James Anderson believes the indefinite suspension of international cricket due to COVID-19 pandemic won't be ending his illustrious career for England.
The 37-year-old pacer, England's highest-ever Test wicket-taker with 584 scalps, is in the twilight phase of his sojourn at the highest level.
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But the hunger to still turn-up for the three lions hasn't diminished one bit as Anderson is maintaining focus on his fitness by taking part in "virtual" training sessions with his England teammates.
"I've not actually thought about never playing cricket again," AFP quoted Anderson as saying during a conference call on Thursday (March 26). "I feel like we will play again and I will play again at some stage."
"I'm still hungry to play, I've still got ambitions to play for England," he added. "So I think the fact I've been able to do this for a long time and I get to play a sport as a job means when I do get to do that again, I'm really going to cherish it and enjoy every single moment of it."
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has already postponed the start of the English summer until the end of May, but the deadly outbreak threatens to further ruin the domestic and international season.
"A few of the lads are training together virtually," Anderson added. "I did a workout with Stuart Broad and Mark Wood yesterday."
"We've all got Pelotons - the bikes. You can compete against each other. Stuart came out on top this time, with me a close second and Mark Wood in third."
Anderson, who had recovered from a calf injury picked up at the start of the Ashes last summer, broke his rib on comeback during the Test series in South Africa, which subsequently ruled him out of the squad for the winter's now suspended tour of Sri Lanka.
"To get injured again was a big frustration," he said. "But it was lucky in a way that it was a broken rib. If it was a muscle injury it would have taken much longer to recover."
With the ECB reportedly intending to salvage the "profitable" part of the summer only - prioritising international fixtures, and inaugural The Hundred, T20 Blast - the County Championship is under serious danger. But Anderson is willing to play whatever cricket that takes place when the situation improves.
"I want to be playing cricket and if that is the only cricket going on, if it's the Hundred or the T20 Blast, I'd love to be involved in that," he said. "If there wasn't any red-ball cricket this summer, it would be a long, long time for me to be ticking over in the nets."
(Inputs from AFP)
