Stuart Broad: James Anderson has ‘more in tank’ and would have chosen to stop if not

Stuart Broad has declared that his long-time opening partner James Anderson has “got more in the tank” and would have retired of his own accord if he was not bowling well enough.

In April, Anderson was told by England’s management that he would no longer be selected after the first Test of the summer. Broad, who retired last summer after playing alongside Anderson for 16 years, said that Anderson would have made the choice himself if he had not been performing well enough. He believes that England could have continued to pick Anderson beyond the opening Test against West Indies starting on Wednesday.

“I think he would keep bowling until he felt like he couldn’t do the job for the team,” Broad said, speaking on The Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast from Telegraph Sport.

“I suppose the ultimate question is: Is Jimmy in your best bowling attack for the whole summer? I think ultimately, yes.

“He’s got more in the tank. He’s fit. He’s bowling really well. He’s hungry. He’s motivated as he always is. He’s an addict for the art of bowling.”

Broad said that he believes that picking Anderson in more Tests this summer could have increased England’s chances of gaining more wins. After the three Tests against West Indies, England then play a three-match series with Sri Lanka in August and September.

“I’d have been half-tempted not to play [Anderson in] all the six

 Test matches, but to play three or four,” Broad said. “I think I’d have been half-tempted to do it a bit more with Jimmy on the field.”

Broad said that, even with the Lancashire bowler turning 43 before the next Ashes series, in 2025/26, Anderson still might have been able to tour Australia once more.

“The thing about Jimmy, you don’t know, do you? What would you have said six years ago, he’d be taking the new ball in 2024?

“I don’t think there’s many people out there that would tell you that he couldn’t do the job for the team. I suppose the bigger question is, can he do the job for the team in Australia in 18-19 months?”

‘It’s been too long since we won in Australia’

But Broad said that he understood England’s decision to move on from Anderson as England attempt to use this summer to build for the future.

“I do understand the decision from whoever made it, the hierarchy, I suppose, that you need to get some games for other bowlers with some challenges ahead,” Broad said.

“Although the West Indies and Sri Lanka are good teams, the bowlers need some overs before they have India at home or they go to Australia. I do get that.

“I don’t think anyone would be brave enough to say that he couldn’t do a great job in Australia when he was 43. But I do really understand the decision. I get the decision and, you know, ultimately Jimmy played an amazing part in Australia in 10/11 to win the last Ashes that England won over there.

“It’s been too long since we’ve won in Australia. So why not do things a little bit differently? Why not take a younger, fresher, taller, quicker, whatever we’re hoping to do, bowling attack to Australia. And to do that, to have success, you probably need some exposure this summer.”

Prolific partners who fed off each other

Anderson took  seven for 35 for Lancashire on his first-class return last week. Broad sent him a message saying “well bowled” and joking that he wished the feat had not come against Nottinghamshire, his own former county.

“I watched all that spell. It was just on a string, wasn’t it for him? Just an incredible spell – bounce, seam, movement, wickets.”

Broad also explained how Anderson helped him during his own career. In 138 Tests together, Anderson and Broad shared 1,039 wickets, usurping Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne as the most prolific Test bowling partnership of all time.

“Jimmy and I fielded at mid-off and mid-on to each other, so you’re just constantly talking all the time,” Broad said. “And then you’re talking technically. I would know Jimmy’s action better than he would.

“Jimmy would say to me, pump your knees higher. Or I’d say to him, ‘Jimmy, you’re looking a bit long in your stride pattern, shorten it or try a leg cutter or use your bouncer’. You’re not using your bouncer because you see things differently when you’re out of the emotion of the bowling spell as well. So I’d say our partnership was completely based on communication, but ultimately, like, properly honest.

“The first morning of a Test match, I’d always be the last person to sort of tap him, give him a little like low five and say good luck. I’d always let him bowl four balls until I went over to him just so he’d feel comfortable.

“He’d get a sort of a rhythm as to what the pitch is doing. Is it swinging? Is it seeming? Does it feel quick? Do we need that many slips? Actually, you know, then and then I’d go up and say, what are you thinking, mate? That would be our first bit of sharing of information. So it’s actually seeming or it’s swinging a little bit, needs to be a bit fuller, it’s slow. And then we would never really leave it more than four balls again throughout our spells.”

Broad also outlined his hopes for the future of the Test game. He suggested that dedicated windows for five-day action, with period in which several nations are playing Tests concurrently, could safeguard the format.

“Maybe it would give us more direction as to when Test match cricket is played. Maybe it is Boxing Day, New Year, and then three [Tests] in September or June or something. And it allows the best players in the world to schedule.

“I don’t think many players of a younger group would prioritise red-ball cricket just as a business person really – what you’re being paid for per ball is, is very different in T20 cricket.

“The landscape of Test cricket might change, but I think there’s still a huge hunger for it in the playing groups. There’s still a great love for it. There’s no feeling like Test-match cricket.”