“It could just Add on a Year or Two at the End of my Career,” James Anderson on Covid-19 Pandemic

England pacer James Anderson feels that the two-month lockdown has added a few more years to his career. Anderson is a part of a 55-member group who has been asked to return to training for the upcoming West Indies Test series. 

A few days back, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen had tweeted that the forced break would have lengthened the careers of few sportsmen as they would have gotten a mental break. 

Kevin wrote, “I wonder how many sportsmen/women have had their careers lengthened with this forced break? Little niggles healing. A mental break from the pressure. Falling back in love with their sport. Would be interesting to find out?” 

Talking about the same, England’s highest test wicket-taker James Anderson revealed on BBC’s Tailenders podcast that he might play for one or two extra years. Anderson said, “It could just add on a year or two at the end of my career,” 

I have really enjoyed being back: James Anderson

During the interaction, Anderson also shared his experience of training after such a long time that too in an empty stadium. Though the government has allowed the players to train, there are some restrictions like maintaining social distancing, bringing your own kit, and many more.

Anderson quoted, “I’ve really enjoyed being back and as odd as it is just bowling into a net, with not many people around. It’s still nice to be back and playing cricket. I bring all the kit myself – my bands and med balls to warm-up with. I’ve got my own cricket balls which I don’t normally have,” 

He also added, “I have a quick lap around the outfield and then straight into the nets. I bowl a few overs and then get straight back in the car and go home.”

England and West Indies are scheduled to play a Test series in England. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the matches will be played behind closed doors without the spectators. It would be a different experience for all the cricketers as this has never happened before in the game. 

To this Anderson feels that it would be a new experience and there would be a different sort of atmosphere on the field. The 37 year old said, “I’ve been watching the rugby league in Australia and I actually thought there was a crowd watching because they were playing crowd noise through the speaker in the stadium,” 

He added, “I actually thought it worked. It was nice to have that sort of atmosphere even though there was no-one there,”