On the eve of the cricket season, Mail Sport’s Dan Biggar sat down with another British sporting icon in England’s leading Test wicket-taker Jimmy Anderson for the rugby man’s A Load of BS on Sport podcast.
They discussed how Anderson, 42, feels about being forced into international retirement, why ageism should be rooted out of society and what is driving him to play on for Lancashire…
BIGGAR: Jimmy, you’re still playing at county level. Do you still feel like you’ve got enough in you to play international cricket?
ANDERSON: Yeah, I do. I’ve spent years trying to look after my body so it can go on for as long as possible. My skills are still there. My speeds aren’t dropping.
You speak to a lot of people about your eyes starting to go or you not being as quick as you used to be, but that’s not happened to me yet. I still feel like I could play for England, but obviously I’ll never know that.
England legend Jimmy Anderson remains adamant that he could still play cricket for England
Anderson has spoken to Mail Sport’s Dan Biggar about how he has come to terms with walking away from playing for England
He also revealed how hypnotherapy and listening to American country singer Glen Campbell (pictured) helped take his game to the next level
BIGGAR: I imagine that (being retired rather than retiring) wouldn’t have sat overly well with you in terms of you still feeling like you could do a job?
ANDERSON: It’s not even feeling I could do a job. You try firstly to be as good as you can be as an individual. I felt like I was a match-winner, wanting to put myself in a position where I could win games for the team. I feel like I’ve done it a reasonable amount through my international career.
Once that feeling disappeared I’d have thought, ‘Right, now it’s time to hang up the boots’, but that never dawned on me. I do also understand things have got to move on at some point.
There’s a huge year of Test cricket ahead with India in England and then the Ashes in Australia, so trying to get to have a look at other people is important for that group.
But, in my head — when you’ve committed yourself to your craft for so long, trying to look after yourself — before they even said they wanted me to retire, I was thinking to the Ashes, ‘How do I make sure I’m fit enough, strong enough, quick enough?’ All those sorts of things. So it’s frustrating it gets taken out your hands.
BIGGAR: How on earth are you going to replace the buzz of taking wickets? You’ve got one more season at it to knock over a few, but then what?
ANDERSON: One season at the minute. We’ll see how this year goes; I might have a couple more. Any sportsman who’s retired will say you can’t replace that buzz no matter what. Whether you find another sport or another line of work to go into, it’s irreplaceable. That’s why I want to drain every little bit of life I’ve got in my body.
Anderson admits it is frustrating that he can no longer prove himself at Test level
He will play for Lancashire this season, and has not ruled out continuing beyond 2025
Anderson is determined to push his body to the limit as he approaches his 43rd birthday
BIGGAR: I broke my career down into three stages. When you’re young, you’ve almost got no fear. You just go out to enjoy living the dream, playing professional sport for your club, your country.
Once you’ve got a reputation and something to lose, it felt like that was where there was most pressure. And then the latter stages, you’ve built up enough credit in the bank that you know how to deal with situations. You can start enjoying things a little bit more on and off the field, and you’re almost at the stage again where there’s no fear. Is that a fair summary of your career as well?
ANDERSON: Yeah. As I got older, the pressure from a cricketing point of view and from the team was not there. You’ve earned the right to be in that position. But then there’s the noise from the outside. It frustrates me a little bit because even now playing for Lancashire — I’ll be 43 in the summer — people say, ‘Aren’t you a bit old to be playing?’
I’m sure if the number 42 wasn’t next to my name on the team sheet, that wouldn’t be the case. I’d still be putting my name in the hat for series to come.
I’d like to see it change because I don’t think it’s just in sport. In life, we talk about age in a certain way. My dad is in his 60s. He’s like, ‘I’m going to retire,’ because that’s sort of the thing to do. But it should be how you feel. If your body can cope with it, you don’t have to start slowing down.
In sport, when you get a young kid coming through, people are like, ‘Oh my God, look at this lad. He’s 17. This is amazing. Get him in.’ There should be hype around people who are playing to 45 like Tom Brady.
Anderson takes inspiration from NFL icon Tom Brady who played into his mid-forties
Anderson does not feel he has slowed down, so does not intend to stop playing yet
The development in sports science, knowledge around recovery and how to prepare your body has just massively changed. Playing sport professionally is the best thing you can do and you should be allowed to do it for as long you want.
BIGGAR: In terms of you being a coach now with England, when you were a player, what sort of captain and coach got the best out of you?
ANDERSON: When I started, Nasser Hussain was captain and he probably had the biggest influence on me because I was just watching at that age, seeing how people went about their business, what was required.
A lot of the senior players didn’t like him because he was so regimented, so aggressive and stern, would just say what he felt. But I loved that as a young lad. I knew where I stood and that was great because there’s so much doubt around when you first come into the team. When you’ve got a straight-talking captain or coach that makes a massive difference.
BIGGAR: You turned to hypnotherapy around the age of 29. What did that consist of, if you don’t mind sharing more detail?
ANDERSON: The night before each game I’d visualise the next day, go through a lot of scenarios in my head. Picturing who I’d bowl against, getting hit for four, taking wickets and stuff like that.
Not just positive stuff but negative as well, just so that once I got into the game, I’d almost been there already and I wasn’t surprised by anything. He gave me a CD, and I’d just sort of drift off to sleep, listening to his voice and him saying positive-reinforcement sorts of things.
Anderson believes his first England captain Nasser Hussain was his biggest career influence
Anderson is keen to keep playing and passing on his knowledge to the next generation
I went through a period of probably two or three years of using hypnotherapy to make me feel calmer, almost notice the red mist coming before it arrived and being able to do something about it when it did. I think that helped me massively. My performances went through the roof.
I used to like having a song in my head as well when I was bowling. I always thought it had to be something quite aggressive to get me into a rhythm but when I got one of my last five-wicket hauls for England, I had Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell in my head, which isn’t fast-paced.
BIGGAR: And you’re excited to be playing for Lancashire again?
ANDERSON: There’s a lot of young lads in that group, so I’m sure I’ll feel like a father figure in that squad or a grandfather figure even to a lot of them.
But it’s exciting for me because I still feel like I can do a good job and I still really enjoy playing the game. It’s probably my first full county season for about 20 years, so I’m really looking forward to it.
The latest episode of Dan Biggar’s podcast, A Load of BS on Sport, is out now.
