SIMON HUGHES: None of us wants to see Jimmy bowling 77mph nip-backers with the keeper stood up. Jimmy the Dobber. Please no
This is going to sound harsh. Jimmy Anderson should retire from all cricket. Now.
Why? Well firstly his body is telling him something. It is saying it has had enough. Ok it’s only a calf injury but it has been lingering for a while now. The effort to finally shake that off is debilitating in itself at the age of 37. But the associated strain might well cause something else to go.
Although Anderson has kept himself supremely fit - mainly with a lot of light stretching - it will only get harder. After your mid-thirties you lose a kilo of muscle every year. He will actually have to start doing some weight training. He won’t like that.
But there’s another more important reason why it would be a good idea to quit. He is still fit (in a general sense). The more bowling he does from now on, the more damage he will do to his knees, hips and ankles (remember you put at least six times your body weight through your joints every time you try to bowl fast).
Surely he does not want to end up with knees like mine (which bow out almost enough to let a canoe through). He deserves to enjoy his post-playing days with golf, a few celebrity matches, perhaps going on a cycling tour of Burgundy.
Anderson has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes
Essentially he has time - at the age of 37 - to properly forge a second career - be it coaching, broadcasting or, er…wine-making. Or all three. He will still have the energy and stimulation to develop and improve. The most successful coaches and broadcasters mostly retired from the game in their mid-thirties. It is a great age. You have experience and knowledge but still the appetite to learn. Past 40 and grumpiness and lethargy can set in.
What’s the alternative? He could carry on, of course he could. But he’ll get gradually slower. You don’t notice it happening, but it is only natural. The ping and snap of your bowling action gradually decrease, like fraying elastic.
One day a ropey lower-order batsman he used to get out for fun will pull his back-of-a-length delivery for four and lean smugly on his bat. Or another will shimmy up the pitch and bunt his probing outswinger back over his head (there’s no respect these days). This will prompt that fateful thing - the keeper coming up to the stumps. None of us wants to see Jimmy bowling 77mph nip-backers with the keeper stood up. Jimmy the Dobber. Please no.
Remember the Carly Simon song - Nobody Does it Better. That will be Jimmy’s epitaph. No one has swung the ball both ways with more control and deception and no one ever will. No paceman will overtake his tally of 575 Test wickets (Stuart Broad needs another 117 - that will take him three years at least). He is the best swing and seam bowler there has ever been.
He has nothing left to achieve or prove. Oh, and you don’t get knighthoods until you retire from Tests...
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Posted by Mike Rowe on 23/11/2019 at 11:52
Your delusional you’ve wrote this to encourage Jimmy Anderson to retire. Firstly it’s not up to you he’ll go when he wants to and two u think u have all the answers because of what you bowled a few overs here and there you’re a bowler that before 10 minutes ago I didn’t even know existed. So why don’t u shut up go and make a brew and stop crying because ur salty that he’s better than u
Posted by john moorley on 05/09/2019 at 00:31
Agree with you Simon totally. His time is up. Though the field is crowded, I have enjoyed his commentating and his humour on TMS
Posted by Marc Evans on 03/09/2019 at 22:31
Anderson has the most difficult career choice of his life to make, as does every great sportsman when they have to come to terms with the fact that their body will no longer sustain the necessary workload at a level that challenges them. I cannot blame him for trying to prolong his international career when he evidently still feels able to perform, especially being only 25 wickets away from that elusive 600 club. That equates to about 2 series for him. For that reason I think he will postpone thoughts of immediate retirement and try to get properly fit for a last hurrah next summer.
Posted by Nigel Grant on 03/09/2019 at 17:20
They shotgun horses...don’t they ?.. What utter tosh
Posted by Nigel Grant on 03/09/2019 at 17:17
They shoot horses...don’t they ? What utter tosh.
Posted by Nick Hawke on 03/09/2019 at 17:09
How dare you! Why on earth write him off so quickly- he has an injury, so give him the chance to get over it and come back again. It's not as if he's been riddled with injuries either. Obviously, if he can't get his pace up and bowl in the same way then he won't get selected and nor will he want to be if he's not able to carry on as he was. But why would you be so quick to pension off our greatest ever bowler? Just because you feel you know best because you used to be a bowler? Please!! With all the modern sports science available to these athletes nowadays he is far fitter and more likely to be able to carry on than you ever were!
Posted by Gemma Clair on 03/09/2019 at 13:59
Jimmy already does loads of media stuff! Tailenders podcast, TMS and others. i also thought "Surely he does not want to end up with knees like mine" was a very indulgent comparison. It's like comparing Usian Bolt with that fat lass from the X factor.
Posted by Mike Jones on 02/09/2019 at 14:39
One of the most pathetic articles I have ever read. This article is full of pseudo-science and is extremely poorly written. How dare this 'yosser' tell Jimmy what to do. I don't ever comment on articles, but this is ridiculous. Earning money with this kind of rubbish. Shame on you!
Posted by Peter Roberts on 02/09/2019 at 13:38
rubbish Malcolm Marshall was the best swinger of the ball both ways there ever was. an average of just over 20 for 376 test wickets was the best for any bowler over 200 test match wickets
Posted by Nigel Mill on 01/09/2019 at 22:15
Only Jimmy will know when it is time for him to retire.
Posted by Iwan on 31/08/2019 at 23:14
A kilo of muscle mass a year after mid 30s. Really? There would be nothing left of him by the time he was 50...
Posted by David on 31/08/2019 at 08:04
Sad but true. Although I said the same of Federer 3 years ago! I guess the Fed was only 34 then.
Posted by Stev on 30/08/2019 at 18:45
Totally agree. I love watching Jimmy...I love the man, but don’t want to see a shadow bowling slower and slower. I’d miss him, but it’s the sensible thing to do.
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