Former England captain and commentator Michael Vaughan believes that managing James Anderson’s retirement is going to be a key to the national side moving forward, saying England must look beyond the legendary bowler to evolve as a Test team.
Anderson is England’s all-time highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 640 wickets to his name, and Vaughan admitted that he is the big elephant in the English dressing room, but feels the time has now come for the side to begin to phase him out and start planning for the future.
In his column for the Daily Telegraph, Vaughan wrote: “Managing Jimmy's retirement is going to be a key to this team moving forward. His future is the big elephant in the room. It is not about sacking Jimmy. It is about what is right for English cricket. The right thing is to transition, but do it respectfully.”
He added, “You can only do that by having strong conversations with Jimmy about what is going to happen. England can’t move on and be a world force with Anderson at the helm. I love watching Jimmy bowl. He is a poet with the ball in hand. He could still be England's best bowler for another two years.”
Vaughan signed off by saying, “(Former Australia bowling greats) Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath retired with one or two years of high-level cricket still left in them. Just because you can still perform does not mean you should keep going on and on.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
