James Anderson
Former Australian cricketer and a legend of the game, Shane Warne, on Monday suggested that in a bid to prolong his career for England, veteran fast bowler James Anderson can bowl in home conditions and play the role of a bowling coach during overseason tours.
Hailing him as "unplayable" in English conditions, Warne feels that the 38-year-old, who now stands a wicket shy of joining him in the elite 600-wicket club, can still play for another five years.
Warne, whi himself had retired back in 2007 at the age of 37, reckons that for Anderson so play another five years he can play the role f a bowling coach in away tours.
"Watching Jimmy, he's a class act. I'm interested to see how things pan out now he's 38," Warne told Sky Sports.
"If you're picking your side here [in England], Anderson is your first pencilled in. Is he your first pencilled in overseas? I'm not sure.
"When anyone has come up to me and said, 'when did you know it was time to retire? - I'm not saying Jimmy should retire, he shouldn't, he's bowling unbelievably - but, if you're thinking about it, the best advice you can give anyone is, it's better people say why are you [retiring], than why don't you?
"That's the best thing - to go out on top, when people think you can still play for longer. Because then they miss what you brought to the table, miss watching you play.
"If you play too long, people start saying, 'he should retire, he's not at his best'.
"You want Jimmy to play as long as he possibly can, so is there a way he could be bowling coach away from home, so you can keep him around the group, keep him fit and ready to go? And then, in England, you say 'we want you to play for another three or four years'. He's unplayable here, so three, four, five years!
"How do you prolong his career? Is it to not play away and only in England? Or is it he's so good, you want him for every Test you play anywhere.
"I'm not sure what the right thing is to do. Jimmy is probably the only one that can answer that.
"But it will be an interesting one to see how the Jimmy situation goes, but he's bowling unbelievably well, why wouldn't you want him to play every Test?"
Anderson claimed his 29th career five-wicket haul that drew him level with Glenn McGrath as pair now stands second to Richard Hadlee (36) among pacers with most fi-fers. The milestone helped England fold Pakistan for 273 in the first innings ;eadong the hosts to enforce a follow-on having earned a lead of 310 runs.
