Is this the end for Jimmy Anderson?
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00:27the story of the Hubble Space Telescope.Listen now on BBC.com, the BBC appor wherever you get to your BBC podcasts.The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.One of cricket's all-time great might be seeing their professional career coming to an end.Emerson runs in, bowls outside the off-stump.He drives an appeal for a cat.Australia have no reviews.
01:01He's given it not out.England do have a review available and they're taking it.There's a small hot spot and clear audio.You are going to signal this out.Wait for the raw.Completely devastated.Look at Alistair.He's punching the air.
01:28Anderson, bows to Bradford.Bowler.That's number 500.That he would have anticipated.But Jimmy Anderson has reached 500 in test cricket.The first to do so, a tremendous performance from the Lancasterian.Anyway, it's a...Anderson now three steps in a gully.
01:56They go down on a short mid-wicket.As Anderson is in, now up to the wicket, bowels that.Clark has gone to a few to three.And my goodness me, this game is being stood absolutely on its head.So, Jimmy Anderson is his cricket career over Lancashire deciding against offering England's all-time leading wicket-taker.A new contract is chosen to continue playing with Lancashire over the last couple of years after England forced him into internationalretirement. He captained them in the county championship last season. However, they endured theirworst ever campaign. Finished next to bottom of Division 2, though in all that, he took 50 wickets in
02:51the championship in the summer of 2026. Sotally only bettered by six other bowlers in Division2. He was named Lancashire's championship player of the year as well. So is this the right timefor Anderson, for Lancashire, for cricket? Well, we're joined by the BBC's Chief Cricketcommentator Jonathan Agnew. Also Stephen Finn who played alongside Jimmy Anderson on so many occasionsfor England. We'll be hearing from the BBC's cricket correspondent Stefan Schemelt as well.But first of all, Agnes, for somebody that has seen so much of Anderson's career,this feels like a bit of a moment, doesn't it?Yes. Do we expect this? No. I didn't, I must have been, I didn't expect that Anderson's career
03:34would end like this. And I think that's the saddest aspect of it. You know, to havehad a good season by his standards.I mean, you have to try and look it from both sides.And Lancashire, let's face it, absolutely in a massive hole at the moment.Change their coaching staff who you imagine might want to come in and take a bit of a deep breathand just try and sort things out and start afresh after that season that they've had.But, you know, when you've done, when you've had the sort of career that Jimmy Anderson has had,so successful, so loyal to Lancashire as well,
04:09you would expect him to be able to have a moment in which to decide to finish himself.And I think that's the saddest aspect of all of this.If indeed he is finished,that's that I think is, I say that that's just the saddest part for methat he's just sort of walked away from the ground,which he's given so much.And people there haven't had the opportunity to say goodbye.I suspect Lancashire will try and offer him something next year
04:37a lap of honour or somethingand I suspect he might say no thanks very muchthat's the saddest aspectof it you know he deservesbetter than simply notto have his contract renewed andyeah that leavesI'm sure a bitter taste in his
04:53mouth and many people whohave watched and supported himand understand the sort of contributionthat's given to the gameStephen is somebody thathad a sort of association with the countythat ended quite abruptly in your casemiddle sex. I mean, that feeling of
05:09sadness and regretand ruining not being able to make that callhaving made such an impact fora county, it does feel quitesad. Yeah, andmy case and my instance wasnowhere near the contributionthat Jimmy has made to both Lancashire
05:25and to England. So,yeah, there's absolutely no doubt thatbecause it's not on his termsand off the backof for him, what was an excellent seasonmakes it even more surprising, doesn't it?So there'll definitely be a bad taste left in the mouth.I'd imagine there are other counties firing messages off already
05:44to see if he's interested in playing one year for them,but certainly for James Anderson to not be able to have the farewellthat he probably deserves as a Lancashire player is disappointing for everyone.I guess I know you spoke to Jimmy.At the unveiling of his joint portrait was Stuart Broad not too long ago.Let's hear a little bit of that, chat.At the minute, I feel like I can still play.play. In my head
06:09I always said I willfinish when I don't think I canperform anymore. And at the minutelikeI've had a bit of a calf and they go so I'm notnot fit butI've loved it. Very start this evening. I love playing yeah I played eightout of eight championship games I played a handful of
06:27T20s. I love all of it and at the same time I'mplaying for myboyhood club which Iwent to support as a kid. Nice. And Iwatched when they were in the 90s when they had a great time in the white ball stuff winningtrophies and nowadays we've got 17 18 year olds coming through which I feel like I canlike offer advice to if they need it yeah and we've got a group we are a little bit sort of intransition with that sort of thing bringing young players through so I want I'd love to be able
06:58to do that but I'd also love to try and win some silverware for Lancashire and I thinkwith a good mix of experience and youth,we can maybe do that.I just think back to myself starting out in county cricket,imagine having a genuine opportunity to win some silver later at that age.It's such a great experience,so we'll see whether I can,probably not going to be this year, but maybe next year.
07:25Well, Agers, that did not sound like a manthat thought that the end was nigh in terms of his professional career.No, not at all.It's like with England, isn't it?I mean, he is determined to carry on as long as he can.I mean, look, I'm out of the loop out here,and so I've not been able to catch up precisely with this.We don't know what conversations might have taken place
07:46and when, you know, between Lancashire and Jimmy Anderson.And I guess, you know, that might become clearer over the coming days or weeks,not least when Jimmy has his say, which I'm sure that he will.You know, you've got a 44-year-old bowler.You've got to try and say, balance these things up.If you're Paul Farbrace coming in,and I'm not going to point in the thing necessarily at him,but he's the man in charge there now,
08:17and you're trying to sort out a clubthat is clearly in a mess and a proper mess.You know, do you seize the moment to be ruthless?I don't know.I mean, I'm not in that position,but is that what has happened here?butyou know
08:37if he'd been injured a lothad he not performedhad he not pulled his weightall those sorts of thingshad he lost interestthen you knowyou would say well okaybut you know
08:51that is not the Jimmy Anderson that I knowand say look at his performances this yearthen then he's donehe's done better than mostyeahI think there'sThere's a lot more to come.I think there's more that's going to be said about this.
09:09And so in some ways, you just give a bit of a reaction to itand then you wait and see when the dust is settled as to what actually happened.Yeah, I completely agree, Aga.It's kind of doesn't make sense, does it?You'd want more explanation before you can comment too strongly on itabout the reasons behind the decision.Because the Jimmy Anderson that I remember as a player was that he was very helpfulfor me and other bowlers
09:35have spoken about playing with him and alongsidehim and what he can offer you not justwith what he does on the pitchbut the experience and theeven though he ended up having a magnificentcareer the tricky time he hadat the very beginning with the changing of his actionand the confidence that came with
09:51that is a lesson to all young bowlersso to be able to impart that knowledgeupon younger bowlers within the dressing roomcan only be a good thing fora domestic team soyeah I agree it justfeels as though there's a bit more to come.Well, yeah, and you also that you hope, I mean, from Lancashire's perspective,
10:08surely they want to retain him in some sort of coaching capacity and advice and mentoringor whatever it may be.And again, you wonder whether this has been done in a way in which he's going to say,no, thanks, which again would be a massive blow to the club.But again, we just don't know.And we've just got to wait until everyone's, you know, everything's out in the open.and we really know what has happened forwe can really comment on that
10:35other than to say it's just really sadthat he's going to disappear from the gameapparently without the farewellthat I think everyone would agree that he deserves.But should any athlete, Stephen,have the option to choose their retirement?I mean, that feels like an immense luxury.Obviously Stuart Broad had the most magnificent farewell
10:55for England when he hit six from his final balland took a wicket with his final ball delivered.So, you know, sometimes it's beautiful and perfect like that.Other times it isn't.But should any athlete have that choice?Well, no, they shouldn't.They shouldn't be a godforsaken right that you have a choice.But you would suggest that 51 wickets at 17 is enough to say that your performances aren't waning.
11:20If it was 17.If it's been 35 years old with that, you wouldn't even enter any sort of conversation, would it?You'd be offering a three-year contract, I think.If it was 17 wickets at 51, it's a very different conversation.But yeah, it boggles the mind a little.Yeah, let's hear from another England bowling colleague of Jimmy.Chris Wokes has been chatting to Adrian Charles today over on Five Live.Look, I think Jimmy would still be playing for England if he could, which is incredible.
11:54As I said, the longevity he's had in the game.He's second to none.He loves the game.You don't keep playing like that if you don't love the game.And to still be playing at 44 is one head of an effort.And I suppose some people would say, you know, at that age,you need to move on and let the young generation come through.But he was still Lancashire's best bowler this year and taking 50 wickets at 17.
12:20So it probably comes as a little bit of a surprise,maybe a legend like that of the club and what he's put into the canty.you'd have thought he maybe had a bit more of a say on it himself.But obviously Lancashire finished, I think it was second bottom in Division 2,which for a massive club like them, they need to be higher up than that.And maybe they feel like they need a clean slate.The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.It's late 2007, and while attending a Christmas party,
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13:30Will other counties want him, do you think?Well, I don't know.I mean, I would imagine so.I mean, what seems, you know,what I think what you would have imaginedto have happened in this scenariowould be to imagine.If they don't think,
13:49if in Lancashire feel they've got to move on,then I think you would still offer Jimmy Andersonanother year's contractand an opportunity just to kind of go gracefully.But at the same time,going in a positive frame of mind,at the same time mentoring the youngster,and being part of the club.
14:08I mean, that's the sort of conversationthat I think you would imagine would take place.So it seems that that hasn't,or at least it's been rejected, or whatever.Again, we're not sure about that.And that's what I find surprising.Would Jimmy go and play somewhere else?I can see two bits of Jimmy here.
14:29I can see Jimmy's going and playing somewhere elsejust to say, there you go.I told you I can do it.Or I can see Jimmy being kind of just think, well, okay, well, that's it.And I'll pack my stuff up and I'll go and do whatever he is that he's going to do.But there's definitely a part of Jimmy Anderson.It would love it running in a bowling at Lancashire for somebody next seasonare just sticking two fingers up at the committee room.
14:56Stefan Schemort with us as well.What's your sort of take on the prospect of another county coming in for Jimmy Anderson?I think there will be counties interested and happy to have that conversation with him if Jimmy Anderson is open to that.My understanding is that Anderson was not expecting what he was told by Lancashire on Monday and that he was making plans to play next season,even if that wasn't as Lancashire captain.And now because the news has come as a surprise, then there's, you know, he's far from a decision on what he might do next.I know there's been reports that he is set to retire,but I think we're a little bit of weight from that yet.
15:36I'm not saying he won't retire,but I just don't think we're having,we're close to that confirmation.And so if Jimmy Anderson wants to talk to other counties,then that option is there.What I think it will come down to is sort of an aligning of three different things.One of those is obviously money.Can a county find space for Jimmy Anderson in their budget?
15:57What opportunity can they give to him as a playerand possibly as a coachand also a little bit of logistics as well.He's not a young man, is he?He doesn't want to just uproot his entire lifeand go and play somewhere elsein another part of the country.But if I was another county,
16:14I would be thinking,what can I do to get Jimmy Andersoninto my setup?Because even if he only plays for a year,maybe two,then after that,we might have accessto the greatest fast bowling resource
16:29in the countryto help all of our fast bowlers come on.I think that would be something that gives a lot of countiespause for thought over the coming days.Yeah, I think I tend to agree with that.Stefan, I'd be very, very surprisedif there weren't people firing off messages to Jimmy alreadyjust to see his appetite to play
16:50because clearly that resource of knowledgeand the knowledge that can be passed downto the younger players who are making their way in the gameis priceless.and for it coming from England's greatest as well.Yeah, I can't see a negative to it really.Is his reputation, Aggers, in any way and the way that he'll be remembered?Is it tarnished by the way that his career has concluded at international and domestic level?
17:19I mean, it shouldn't be if you look at the numbers.No, I don't think so.I mean, from a personal level, I don't know.I mean, Jimmy, as we all know, is generally a pretty shy fan.He's not one for soaking up adulation and laps of honour and waving to crowds and all of that.I mean, he knows what he's done.That portrait, for instance, that we heard in talking at Lords,that sort of thing means a huge amount to Jimmy.
17:46He was actually a very traditional cricket man.And for him to have a portrait with his big mate, Stuart brought hanging in the long room,would mean more to him, I think, than doing a lap of honour at Lords at the end of his last ten.match say. It's just more really. I think the frustration that Lancashiresupporters will feel that there's someone who they've been watching since you know,who's a teenager and supporting and someone who's given his heart and soul for theclub they might not get the chance now to say thank you and and for them toshow their respect actually because I say Jimmy is not the sort of person to go out
18:25hunting that sort of thing at all quite the opposite. II can see him being quite nappy about this.I can see him not being very happy about it.And therefore, I mean, I would be surprised if he announced that he was retiring himand lived for the reasons that you've been giving there.I mean, I think he will just sit back and wait and see what comes in.I don't think he's necessarily decided what his future is outside cricket.I don't think he has said, I'm definitely going to the media,
18:54or I'm definitely going to do this or definitely do that.You know, he pops up every now and then with us, doesn't he?He does his tail enders, he does a little bit of theatre.Whether that's naturally Jimmy or whether his actual life is cricket.And I mean, he loves passing on his knowledge, passing on his skills, helping people.Ollie Robinson is one of those who will instantly say, what a massive help that he was to him when he first came into the England side.So there's no sort of protective stuff about Jimmy.He's never looked over his shoulder at younger people coming in and taking his.
19:30place. It's not been one of those sort of players, you know, quite the opposite. He's alwaysbeen very helpful and very encouraging. And I mean, personally, I would see him more likely to bein a track suit than talking into a microphone in the future. But whether Lancashire have burnttheir bridges the heavy through this remains to be seen or whether, you know, England,England snap him up. You know, that's all, that's all conjecture in the future. But as far, asAs far as him feeling that he's missed out on a big farewell,that's not the Jim Yanderson that I know.That's not him.
20:13He wouldn't want it to finish like this.Of course not.But he's not someone who will feel angrythat he hasn't had a chance to go and get a big final hurrah from the crowd.Stefan?Yeah, I think the Lancashire thing is interesting, isn't it?Because the club actually haven't officially commented yet,Yeah, Anderson's contract doesn't technically expire until October the 31st.
20:36And I don't know whether or not they were hoping to sit on this until that date and then make an announcement.But obviously it's come out in a different way.They've got a members forum on Monday, Lancashire.That could be quite lively.And I do wonder if the club might need to say something publicly before then.It would be lively without this going on.Yeah, one of the indications that I've had is that they would like him.to stay involved in the club in one way or another.
21:04I've got no idea what that could be.Don't forget he's got an end of the ground at Old Trafford named after him.I mean, this has got me a first, isn't it?First person having an end of a ground named after themand then not offered a contract when they want to stay?Yeah, but I put that thought out on social media last night,and someone did suggest to me that WG Grace helped build Gloucestershire's homeand then was biffed off by them in the late 1880s.
21:24I haven't had that one verified yet.But yeah, the idea that it seemed a bit of a bit of a lot.no-brainer, didn't it, that Jimmy Anderson would carry on playing for Lancashireuntil the end of his career, and then he'd just transition into a coaching role, and thatwould be a fantastic resource for Lancashire to have. Now there's clearly some doubt about that.So, yeah, whether or not Lancashire think they could keep Jimmy Anderson involved in some waymight be a little bit wishful thinking at the moment if James Anderson is feeling a bit sore.Stephen, what about the transition for him as a man from, that life as a professional cricketer where, dare I say, there is a sort of institutionalised nature to it because you're so used to the rhythms, the patterns of how your year's going to be of setting up your life around preseason training, all of those things. It's a big change. You've been through it.
22:18Yeah, a massive, massive jump and shift and transition in your life. And Jimmy's,what, seven years older than me, so he's been doing it seven years longer or even more.And played for 10 years before.Yeah, yeah, he's played for what, 25 year playing career, isn't it, almost?So a quarter of a century.So, yeah, it is a big shift and transition and having stuff lined up clearly that helpsand having outside interests help and something that you're passionate about.And that's why I think I probably agree with agers that I think that being a coach
22:53and imparting that knowledge and helping peopleis something that he would be very passionate about.Not saying he's not passionate about the media side of things,but I think that's where he could seeor have real, real value in whatever he does next.So I would imagine that that would probably be the avenue he goes downand I think the game would be poorer for him not doing that.So I think whoever it is, whether it's Lancashire,
23:19the ECB, other teams,I think there'd be foolish not to try and tap into that because it would be a waste.Agas, as we sort of slightly guess what the future might hold,if this were to be the end of Jimmy Anderson's professional career,as somebody, as I say, who saw pretty much every moment of it,what would you reflect upon as he perhaps waves goodbye?Well, as a former bowler and very much a poor man's Jimmy Anderson,He's someone who has kind of reinvented that sort of bowling, really.
23:57You know, when I was playing, the ball didn't swing.There wasn't really a plan B, which of course is what he has created with his wobble seam.I mean, he's just taken a whole new dimension into bowling.I remember his first test match, you know, a big red stripe at his haircoming on taking five for against Zimbabwe as a young man.And then I think what always was extraordinary about Jimmywas the amount of time that actually he missed.He missed a lot of test matches
24:30while they were rebuilding his action.And one felt really that it was actually not cruel,but it was really quite hard on this young manwho had started off so promisingly,looked to be a real natural.He did have a strange thing about his action.He did dip his head as he let go of the ball.And this is what they were basically trying to eradicate.
24:50and of course they did eradicate it.You look at the way he bowls the majority of his career.He's as you would expect looking straight down the pitch.So, I mean, they did correct it, but it took a long time.And he was getting very frustrated by this.He'd be called into, I remember him being called into a test match in South Africa and Johannesburg,where he hadn't bowled for weeks.And I had a couple of meals with him, I think, in the evenings there.
25:16Me and Mike Selvia had taken him out to try and cheer him up, really.Suddenly he got called into the team of Johannesburg.I thought the ball was going to swing.And he was very rusty, you know, hadn't played.And again, it just felt that he wasn't really being treated very kindly.Every lunch break, all these cones would come out.It would be like the M6 coming out onto the square.And the players walked off.
25:38Out came the cones.And then Jimmy would be there bowling for half an hour at cones.And I'm sure that the coaches and those who work with them say,yeah, but look what we've done.You know, we sorted it.And they did.But the point I'm making is you want to.how many more wickets you might have taken or how many more games he might have played,
25:54perhaps the answer is fewer because perhaps that action might have meant that hehadn't had the longevity that he has enjoyed.Perhaps it might have created the injury that they were worried about.We won't know that.But I mean, watching Jimmy at his best in conditions in which he could really bully the batsmanand just swing the ball like he was on a piece of.string this way and that and then come back later and wobble the ball around and again nip itthis way and that you know and I loved his aggression you know it was his hostility he'd fire himself
26:32up sometimes because he felt that he needed to and then at the end of the day he was speak to thisvery shy chap at the end to say well done I remember giving him some media training some years ago nowand he came into the room that I was in and they showed a film he had a cap on and I thinkMark Nicholas was in the interviewer, so it was probably Channel 4 or something.And he must have asked Jimmy about 25 questions in the course of this 45 second interview.And it stopped.I said, Jimmy, do you remember when that was?He sort of muttered.
27:01I said, Jimmy, you've just taken five wickets for England against India.And he could say, you know, he was just so shy that he just didn't know what to say, really.So there's that, you know, very much the two sides of the man.But, I mean, well, yeah, you think the greatest, brother of his type of I've ever seen, any question.Thank you, I guess. Thank you, Stephen Schmelk. Some reflections on the career of Jimmy Anderson, which potentially is coming to an end.The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.The Football Daily Podcasts with Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith.We are here and we're back. Twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday.
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