The 40-year-old England tall is set to be involved in his ninth series against Australia, although a minor groin strain could rule him out of a one-off encounter with Ireland at Lord’s ahead of the opener from the Ashes to Birmingham from June 16. .
Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test history with 685 wickets, is a four-time Ashes winner, having helped England win the urn at home in 2009, 2013 and 2015, as well as starring in their triumph in 2010/11 in Australia.
Long-time New Ball partner Stuart Broad recently said England’s horrendous 4-0 ‘Down Under’ series defeat in 2021/22 was ‘cancelled’ due to current Covid-19 restrictions at the time.
Anderson, however, jokingly downplayed that assessment but, on a more serious note, said an England side had won 10 of their 12 Tests since captaincy. Ben Stokes and red ball coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year were now a very different team.
“I get his point with the Covid stuff but, for me, I canceled the last three away sets,” Anderson said. “I lost four out of five, I think. That’s his coping strategy.”
He added: “I’m just excited about the way we played. It’s about entertaining people and trying to have fun while we’re doing it.
“If you look at our team, if we’re playing to the best of our abilities with that mindset, I don’t think anyone can stand us. If we do what we’ve done and play as well as we can, I think no one in the world can deal with it.”
England’s aggressive approach stands in stark contrast to the cautious style that characterized the end of Joe RootHis tenure as captain ended with a miserable streak of just one win in 17 Tests.
Stokes was the driving force behind England’s dynamic play and Anderson, who served under several Test skippers including Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss, said the all-rounder was a “born leader”.
Anderson, speaking at an event hosted by England sponsors Radox, was asked if Stokes was the better captain of the lot.
He took his time before answering: “Yeah. It’s hard to say over a short period of time, but he had an amazing start.
“He’s a born leader. I think he’s completely different from any captain I’ve played with before and I really enjoyed it. The way he trains, whether it’s in the gym or he catches, hits or bowls, he is the professional par excellence.”
“For me it’s the finer details, not just on the pitch where his tactical sense has been perfect, but also his emotional intelligence off the pitch and the way he speaks to everyone in the group.”
Anderson, while admitting to having “old man muscles”, remains confident of taking the new ball in the first Test against Australia at Edgbaston.
But with five tests built into a schedule of less than seven weeks, anderson said it was likely both teams would have to rotate their pace attacks.
“I think playing all five is a bit optimistic, and not just for me,” he said.
“If you tell one of the bowlers (they will bowl) three out of five, I think that’s probably more realistic, makes more sense. If it’s four, then great, but you have to take it game by game.”
