James Anderson considering T20 franchise circuit following Test retirement
Written by I Dig Sports"There's plenty of things to think about and I just need to sit down and chat to people about it. I watch the Hundred and see the ball swinging around in the first 20 balls, and I think, 'I can do that. I can still do that.' I don't know if that is a viable option, to maybe see if I could do a job in white-ball cricket? Franchise cricket is something I've never done."
"I don't know how seriously I'm actually thinking about this myself right now," Anderson conceded, "[but] the bowling thing is still a definite option for me, the way my body feels right now, the way my head is. From a skills point of view, the way Test cricket's gone I don't think that'd be an issue. But I don't know how much people would want a 42-year-old bowler in their team."
Anderson also intends to "give back" to Lancashire, the county where he developed as a young bowler. "I've played more Tests than I have first-class games for Lancs," he said. "Whenever I've gone back, I've tried my very best and loved it. But there may be something there where I do feel like I could give something back to the club.
"I'm actually quite excited about what's next because I don't know what that is, and that excites me. I've still got plenty of options, whether it is the coaching side of it, the media side of it, or whether it's still playing in some capacity for a couple more years. I still feel like that's not off the table, with the way that my body feels and the way that I've been bowling in recent years."
Anderson said that his body "at no stage has started to feel like it's 42" and that he wants to make use of his ability to bowl fast while he still can. "There will be a time when I can't turn my arm over at all and I can't bowl at 50mph, never mind 80, so while I can do that, I want to keep doing it," he said. "I'll still dive around in the field if I play for Burnley in five years' time."