Stuart Broad and James Anderson. (Photo Source: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Stuart Broad expressed his concerns about the inexperience in England’s bowling attack after his long-time friend, James Anderson, announced that he would be retiring from international cricket this summer.
Broad and Anderson tormented batting line-ups in unison for several years before the former bid farewell following the Ashes in 2023. Anderson, however, carried on and recently featured in the Test tour of India, picking up 10 wickets in four matches at 33.50. Last week, the 41-year-old announced that that first of England’s three-match Test against the West Indies would be his final appearance for the Three Lions. The game will be played at Lord’s from July 10 to 14.
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Anderson will be calling time on a career that has spanned two decades. He is set to finish with 188 Tests and will look to add to his 700 wickets in the longest format. Broad was effusive in his praise for Anderson but also said that he is unsure about how England will fill the massive void that he will leave.
“England could easily go into a Test match this summer with a very, very inexperienced bowling group. If you don’t play a (Chris) Woakes, Mark Wood has a rest and there’s no Jimmy Anderson, you could have three seamers and a spinner out there potentially with 20 caps between them. That’s quite scary as a Test captain I would have thought. We don’t know how much (Ben) Stokesy’s going to bowl – we hope he does,” Broad said while speaking as a guest on the latest episode of the Sky Sports Cricket podcast – an Anderson retirement special.
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“There’s going to certainly be a huge hole left by Jimmy Anderson that someone is going to have to step into. And not just by swinging the new ball. But by communicating, by keeping calm if the boundaries are leaking, by tactically being aware of what field works at certain grounds, pitches and times of Test matches,” Broad added.