James Anderson says he would have considered captaincy in tests if offered

Alistair Cook recently stepped down as captain of English team after a disappointing 4-0 series loss to India. Cook took the decision of vacating the post earlier this year after having led England in 59 tests in more than 4 and a half years as the captain. England and Wales Cricket almost immediately took the decision to appoint Joe Root to replace Cook. Now, James Anderson has revealed that he was unhappy that he was overlooked for the captaincy in spite of having played 122 tests for England and being the leader of the attack for a long time now.

The veteran who has played 122 tests, says that he would have liked to be at least part of the shortlist which constituted of Joe Root, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes. He stated that “It would have been nice to have been considered for it [the captaincy]. Whether I would have taken it, I’m not sure. From a personal point of view I would have seriously thought about it,”

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Though James Anderson admitted that at his age of 34 especially with injuries creeping up and hampering his game, he might not have been the perfect choice to be captain and hence would have turned the chance and for long term prospect and said it is good that a young man(Joe Root) has been entrusted this responsibility stating “But if I was on the outside looking in, I would have thought: ‘Is this actually where the team needs to go, with a 34-year-old as captain?’ In the grander scheme of things, it makes sense for a younger guy to do it,” as quoted by Hindustan Times.

While James Anderson seemed to understand the reasoning behind him being overlooked but he seemed more disappointed with his seam bowling partner Stuart Broad being overlooked by the board saying that it is sad that fast bowlers are mostly overlooked for the captaincy role in spite of them historically, doing a good job as captain for their respective teams. “I don’t know why more fast bowlers aren’t given the opportunity. I think they would do a good job, and are suited to it. Bowlers do tend to get injured, and that might be why Stuart Broad didn’t get asked. There are more injury risks, but I am all for bowlers being captain,” James Anderson continued

Anderson seemed to have a point, fast bowlers like Walsh, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock have done a good job for their nations as captains. And England have appointed a specialist fast bowler as captain since Bob Willis in 1980s.