"Absolutely not!" Retirement is not on James Anderson’s mind ahead of India series

Anderson also discussed England’s preparations for the five-match series, believing they are in a good position to improve on their performances against New Zealand despite their 'unusual' build-up

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England seamer James Anderson says he is not thinking about retiring from international cricket any time in the near future.

Anderson, who is England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker with 617 wickets in 162 appearances, turned 39 at the end of July.

However, when quizzed about his future, he said he does not see England’s five-match series against India, or the upcoming Ashes series this winter, as the end of his international career.

"Absolutely not! I feel like I’m bowling as well as ever. I feel great physically and I’m just looking forward to the series against India and I will look at everything else once we’ve got past this," he said. "Something I’ve done really well throughout my career is focusing on what’s happening right now and right now, I feel like I’m bowling as well as I ever have and I’m looking forward to the series."

The veteran bowler is currently part of England’s 17-man squad to face India in a five-match Test series which will kick of the 2021-23 World Test Championships, with the first match scheduled to start on August 4 at Trent Bridge. And while admitting England’s preparations for the series have been unusual owing to focus on white-ball cricket this summer, Anderson is confident his side are in a good position to take on India and put their recent 1-0 defeat against New Zealand behind them.

^{Anderson has been balancing his preparations for the series with media appearances during The Hundred and England's white-ball series against Pakistan}

"It’s not been the normal preparation but that’s just the nature of this summer, unfortunately," he said. "There’s not been much red-ball cricket, so we’ve just had to manage as best we can. There’s been lots of other cricket going on, but it’s all been white-ball, whether it’s county cricket or The Hundred.

"I got a couple of games in with Lancashire – one game that didn’t rain – and the rest of the time, I’ve just been trying to bowl in and around other cricket that’s been going on.

"For me, this summer has been quite stop-start, so I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into a five-match series. We know how good India are and getting five matches in six weeks, it can look like quite a lot, but for me, it’s really exciting that we’ve got this amount of cricket coming up and I get the same feeling from the other lads in the dressing room.

"We’re ready to get going. We’re really keen to improve from that New Zealand series earlier in the summer. I don’t think we gave a great showing of ourselves; we can do much better than that.”

Assessing India’s squad for the series, Anderson voiced his excitement at renewing his battle with Virat Kohli, commenting: "I’m excited to be playing against him again. You always want to challenge yourself against the best in the world and he certainly is that.

^{Anderson and Virat Kohli at Lord's in 2018}

"We know how big a player he is to them, both as a batsman and as captain. He has a huge influence on their team, and we know he’s a big wicket. To be honest, I don’t care if I get him out, as long as someone gets him out. He’s an important wicket, but their top six is riddled with talent, so it’s going to be a big challenge for us seam bowlers."

And the Lancashire bowler possibly has a psychological advantage over India’s captain heading into the first Test owing to his strong record at Trent Bridge. Anderson has taken 64 wickets in 10 Test appearances at Nottingham, including seven five-fors and best figures of 7 for 43 against New Zealand in 2008.

"I got told the other day, I’ve got three wickets in my last two games here, so I’m not sure it does suit me that much!" he said. "But in years gone by, swing has played a big part here. It’s a ground where you look up rather than down at the pitch. if there’s cloud cover and it’s humid then generally it’s a good place to bowl.

"I do like playing here. I feel at home here, it’s such a friendly place to play. It’s somewhere I feel really comfortable."