Jimmy Anderson has hunger to play beyond age of 40… because he is so GRUMPY, says England team-mate Jos Buttler
JOS BUTTLER knows Jimmy Anderson has the hunger to play beyond the age of 40 — because he is so grumpy.
Despite Anderson being omitted from the Ashes opener, Buttler is convinced England’s swing king has no intention of retiring.
Anderson turns 40 next July but Buttler reckons he wants to continue for as long as possible.
He explained: “It seems that age is just a number for Jimmy.
“He’s in fantastic shape, his skills are as brilliant as ever and he still seems to be trying to improve and learn new things.
“That hunger doesn’t seem to be wavering at all.
“He still gets just as grumpy if he bowls a bad ball — and that competitiveness is incredibly high in anything he does, let alone on a cricket field.
“I see him wanting to continue as long as he can and there doesn’t feel like there’s anything in the way of him doing that at the moment.”
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Anderson was left out of the first Test even though England insisted he was fit to play.
Captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood wanted to eliminate any chance of Anderson not being 100 per cent for the day-night second Test in Adelaide on December 16.
England’s record Test bowler, with 632 wickets, is potentially deadly under lights and the fifth Test will now also be played with a pink ball at either Melbourne, Sydney or Hobart.
After the game was shifted from Perth, the venue will be put out to tender as Cricket Australia attempt to recoup some cash.
England remember the 2019 Ashes when Anderson bowled four overs in the first Test at Edgbaston before limping off with a calf injury and he was not seen again in the series.
The team’s rain-interrupted preparations here meant Anderson and the other bowlers were short of overs, making an injury more possible.
An England spokesman said: “Jimmy was fit to play. With five Tests in six weeks, the plan was to get him ready for Adelaide.
“With the limited build-up we had, both he and the management didn’t want to take the risk of him playing after what had happened in 2019 at Edgbaston.”
Wicketkeeper Buttler, 31, added: “Jimmy could have played but it’s a long series and we want a guy like that to be available to play as much of a part as possible.”