Veteran England pacer James Anderson insisted that he is just going through a lean patch and his underwhelming performance in the ongoing Ashes 2023 series is not because of his age. The 40-year-old pacer has only 3 wickets after conceding 226 runs at an average of 75.33 in the two Tests thus far.
With England aiming to make a comeback in the series and win the third Test match at Headingley, it is speculated that the veteran pacer could make way for Mark Wood.
Anderson was honest with his assessment while writing for the Telegraph and said that he is going through a lean patch and admitted that he has just not found the knack yet.
"I will be honest. You want to contribute in the big series and I cannot remember having two such quiet games in a row for at least the past 10 years. I feel like I have always contributed at some stage. But I do not think I am bowling particularly badly; I am just going through a lean patch, which you do not want to happen in an Ashes ... I am saying lean patch but it is only two games out of 181,” Anderson wrote for the Telegraph.
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"I am not going to criticise the pitch again. They have not suited me so far but I have found ways of getting wickets in the past on flat pitches. At the moment I am just not finding that knack. However, when you see the best bowlers in the world slamming it into the middle of the pitch, it is not great viewing. If you asked all the bowlers on show at Lord's, they will say they want to try other skills as well.
I have spent 20 years pitching the ball up trying to swing it and move it off the deck and when you do not get anything doing that, it is frustrating. I just have to keep working on my game, chat to the coaches and see if there is something more I can be doing,” he added.
Anderson went on to say that age is not a factor behind his poor run in the ongoing Ashes series and said he isn't thinking about his future just yet.
"It comes with the territory at my age for people to speculate about my future. But I understand. It is a high-profile series and you get put under the spotlight a bit more and the easy target is to say he is getting on a bit. But the reason I have not taken wickets is not because of my age.
I am not thinking about the future. The future for me is just thinking about Thursday and the start of the next Test. That is as far ahead as I will look. If I get the nod, I will put in a performance the team need. If not, I will keep working hard and play a role at some stage across the series,” he signed off.
England and Australia will face off in the third Test at Headingley from July 6th onwards.
