News James Anderson: England's reluctant retiree faces up to his end-game Fast bowler still believes he could have more to give, but accepts the final curtain is nigh Vithushan Ehantharajah 08-Jul-2024 • 1 hr ago James Anderson reacts to a question at a press conference • PA Photos/Getty Images On the morning of the second day of the Lord's Ashes Test in 2015 , James Anderson was late getting to the ground. He was not alone: Joe Root, Mark Wood and the designated driver Stuart Broad were also behind schedule. Australia were 337 for 1 overnight, with Steve Smith and Chris Rogers already boasting hundreds.
The motivation to get to the ground on time to warm those aching joints after 90 overs in the dirt was hardly through the roof. So, the quartet did a few laps of Regent's Park while Anderson queued up James Bay's "Hold Back The River" on repeat, belted out louder with each rendition to the bemusement of fellow Friday commuters. Australia went on to win by 405 runs.
Nine years on, that sense of delaying the inevitable hangs heavier in NW8 for Anderson. Wednesday will be the beginning of an end to his career, a progress that could never really be fathomed until it was talked into existence during that meeting at a Manchester hotel in April. Time has made the enforced decision a little easier to swallow.
But speaking on Monday, Anderson articulated the caveats to his acceptance that planning for the next Ashes - by which point he will be 43 - is the right thing to do. "I sti.