England bowler Jimmy Anderson insists he could play on until he’s 42 for the Ashes down under series

Jimmy Anderson admits he nearly quit when he sat out England’s Caribbean tour last year, but now believes he could keep playing until the next Ashes in Australia in 2025.

Such has been England’s transformation under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum that the leading fast bowling wicket-taker in Test history is looking, at 40, beyond the ashes of this summer and potentially two years. after next.

He was the unlikely figure of the father of BBC Radio One DJ Greg James, Anderson’s co-presenter on the Tailenders podcast on BBC Sounds, who played a major role in convincing him to continue playing after England’s decision to leave Anderson and Stuart Broad out of the defeat to the West Indies. That series forced the resignation of captain Joe Root and the beginnings of Bazball.

“There was definitely a time when I thought that could be it,” Anderson said at the new Broadcasting House, in the relaunch of the podcast that has shown its different, lighter side.

“There was anger and disappointment. That not knowing

‘Is that so? Do they want to go ahead and get younger blood? But I did talk to Greg quite a bit and he was just trying to make sense of it and not make any rash decisions.

Then came an intervention from James’s father, Alan.

“My dad sent Jimmy a text saying, ‘Take off the stinger, everything will look different in the summer on a nice sunny day at Lord’s,'” said the DJ and cricket fan. “No one would have guessed what would happen, but it’s amazing what a little bit of time does.”

Now looking as good as ever and excited about the new regime, Anderson refuses to rule out fighting in Australia when he turns 42.

“The way to do it is definitely not to look too far ahead,” Anderson said when asked how long he would continue, as he prepares to fly to New Zealand for England’s final Test assignment of the winter.

‘Australia away feels miles away, but I just need to look after myself, bowl well and take wickets, and it might sneak up on me and I’ll think, ‘I can take out another Ashes.’ Or it could sneak up and say, ‘No, that’s stupid.’ It’s good to be in this group and still feel loved, which is what any player needs. As long as that feeling is still there and I’m hungry, which I am, I’ll keep going.’

He will definitely be around for the Ashes this summer. “Whoever we play with now, it’s going to be fun,” she said. I’m sure you’ll see New Zealand more of the way we’ve been playing and then Australia could be amazing.

‘I can’t see them doing anything other than going head to head with us. Australia will try to fight fire with fire and that will make it exciting.

Even more so if the returning Jofra Archer is in top form and able to resume his battle with Steve Smith who ignited the last Ashes series in England. “I saw Jofra in Dubai with the Lions before going to Pakistan and he looked great,” Anderson said. ‘His second ball from him back was outside the full run of him and was timed at 93mph. Hopefully, he’ll be fit and fired this summer.

And Anderson, who says he still wants to improve even with 675 Test wickets to his name, enjoys learning new tricks with a captain at Stokes who ushered in a high-octane style that has inspired nine wins in the last 10 Tests.

“I’ll be brutally honest and say I didn’t know he had this on him,” Anderson said of Stokes. “I’ve always had him as a walk-the- talk type of guy, but he’s actually just amazing.

He has a lot of emotional intelligence around the group, managing the players and what comes with the job.

It takes away all the noise so we can focus on the cricket.

You can listen to the Tailenders podcast on BBC Sounds and fans can also buy tickets for the live recording at the London Palladium on March 9 here.