Fast bowling great James Anderson has revealed how he walked into an ambush like in the gangster film Goodfellas during his infamous encounter with England team management that forced his retirement from Test cricket earlier this year.
Anderson met England coach Brendan McCollum, captain Ben Stokes and managing director Rob Key at a hotel in Manchester last April to outline the India tour and set out plans for the home summer. It marked the end of his 22-year national team career.
Watch every ball of the Australia vs Pakistan ODI series live and exclusively on FOX CRICKET on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
McCullum flew in from New Zealand to deliver the news in person, but the 41-year-old picked up no signs that he was being phased out until he arrived at the Dakota Hotel.
In a new book titled ‘Finding the Edge’, Anderson reveals her shock at how the meeting went down.
“I’m walking towards them and it’s really cold. “This isn’t a team evaluation, is it?” Anderson wrote.
Australia vs Pakistan: 1st ODI Highlights | 15:30
“Every time you step to the other side of the bar, their distinct silhouettes catch your eye, the tram trip you just passed suddenly feels like a happy past life, and the sun outside is sucked into a horizonless, neon-red darkness.
“My brain is doing the math, and my heart is sinking every time I go to shake his hand. I feel like Joe Pesci from Goodfellas was led into the room under the impression that I was going to make it. You’re damned.
“They’re going to tell me things I don’t want to hear, right? I have been swerving, lunging, transforming and bowling all my life.”
Anderson went on to say that McCullum essentially gave him a prepared statement. The focus was on them looking to the future as he will miss the 2025/26 Ashes tour of Australia.
This wasn’t the first time Anderson had heard that kind of news.
Shield Wrap: A hat trick from your couch | 02:08
His career was extended by the McCullum/Stokes/Key axis. That’s because the previous regime was looking to leave him and his regular new-ball partner Stuart Broad when he was ruled out of the three-Test series in the West Indies. 0 – 2022.
At the time, Anderson received a brief phone call from the then interim director of cricket and his former captain Sir Andrew Strauss to relay the news.
But in both cases, Anderson said she had no choice but to say ‘okay’ and try to deal with the disappointment.
Instead of retiring immediately, he opted to play the farewell Test against the West Indies at Lord’s in the first Test of this year’s English summer.
This was his 188th Test and he took 704 wickets. Both are British records. He became the most prolific fast bowler of all time and third overall behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
