Steve Harmison feels that James Anderson should have retired following the Ashes 2023 series, taking a cue from former bowling partner Stuart Broad.
Despite his illustrious career and reputation as one of the greatest pacers of all time, Anderson’s performance in the Ashes 2023 has been far from his usual standards.
Anderson played four out of five games but managed to pick up only five wickets at an average of 85.40. This was a surprising turn of events in a series that ended in a 2-2 draw. His poor form was not due to his age, as he himself clarified, but rather a lean patch he was going through.
“I’m not sure how long I see Jimmy holding out for,”
“I would have loved to have seen him retire this week. Not because of ability and age, I just think going out at the top against Australia is always the best way to go.”
Harmison went on to say that England will need to take a call on Anderson’s future as they would be forced to work with practicality.
“He’s been unlucky this series as he got an injury just before the first Test and missed a bit of cricket. I thought he didn’t have that zip that’s made him so potent for a number of years. Whether that’s just out of rhythm or the age factor, only Jimmy knows.”
“He deserves to go out when he wants to. But England have got a decision to make. They can’t work on fairytales, they have to work on practicality.”
“Is Jimmy going to be one of their best three seamers in India over those five Test matches? He might play one or two, but can he get through to next summer? Will England even take him to India?”
ECB will be also offering their central contracts next month and Harmison feels Anderson’s call to continue playing leaves them in an awkward position.
“Will the ECB financially look after him, will they give him a central contract?” Harmison said.
“They’ve got 11 Test matches [in the next year]. How many is he going to play? That shouldn’t come into it but it has to because of budgets and England has to contract the right people and have the foresight to pick the right teams.”
