India vs England 2021: James Anderson Might Just Retire At The End Of Old Trafford Test, Feels Steve Harmison
Updated - 30 Aug 2021, 05:03 PM
Former England pacer Steve Harmison has a “funny feeling” that James Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, might just retire at the end of the ongoing series against India.
After three Tests, the series stands level at 1-1; the next two Tests are slotted for Oval and Old Trafford, James Anderson’s home ground where there’s an end named after him.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Harmison said: “I’ve got a funny feeling, I don’t know what it is, but I really have got a funny feeling that Jimmy Anderson will retire at the end of Old Trafford. I’ve said this for a while now, I’ve got a funny feeling Jimmy Anderson might just retire at the end of this summer.”
Harmison underlined that the Ashes series may not go ahead as planned – it could be postponed or cancelled altogether as some senior England players have threatened to pull out if the Australian government doesn’t permit their families to travel with them.
The former pacer recons Anderson, 39, may ponder over the idea of finishing with a high in Manchester with a series win over India as his swansong.
“I don’t think the Ashes will either go ahead or go ahead in such a way and I think Jimmy might just look at this and go ‘you know what, if I go to The Oval and bowl well and then I’ve got Old Trafford at the end, my illustrious career couldn’t get any better than to finish by knocking Virat Kohli over from the end I bowl at, which is named after me, and there’s potentially no Ashes in six months time’,” Harmison added.
“‘Why would I want to continue playing for another year and finish at The Oval next summer when it peters out. Do I go out on a high, the way I’ve performed this summer?’ If I was Jimmy Anderson, I’d be [thinking] ‘I don’t think this can go any better’.”
Absolutely not! I feel like I’m bowling as well as ever: James Anderson
Ahead of the India series, James Anderson, however, had made it clear that retirement is not on his mind currently. He said he is bowling ” as well as I ever have” and is physically fit to go further.
“Absolutely not! I feel like I’m bowling as well as ever. I feel great physically and I’m just looking forward to the series against India and I will look at everything else once we’ve got past this,” the legendar pacer said.
“Something I’ve done really well throughout my career is focusing on what’s happening right now and right now, I feel like I’m bowling as well as I ever have and I’m looking forward to the series.”
James Anderson is the leading wicket-taker amongst pacers and overall is only behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warner. He has taken 30 wickets at an average of 20.96 this year, and 13 wickets at an average of 19.23 in the ongoing series against India.
Also Read: India vs England 2021: Ravichandran Ashwin Could Replace Ishant Sharma At The Oval
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