James Anderson aims at player-coach position for England

England pace spearhead, James Anderson is reportedly eyeing the role of a player-coach for his national side in the imminent future. With the England team set to lose Ottis Gibson as their bowling coach to South Africa, the post of coaching the bowling department will be up for grabs. If reports are to be believed, Anderson himself, is looking to retire as a player after the conclusion of the 2019 Ashes Tournament.

“Jimmy” Anderson has been the bowling mainstay for the England team for well over a decade now. He’s considered by many critics and fans alike, to be one of the greatest bowlers England has ever produced. The 35-year old pacer possesses phenomenal figures of 485 wickets in 126 Test matches as well as 269 wickets in 194 One-Day Internationals (ODIs). According to sources, Anderson is not looking to retire any time soon and is said to be pondering over the option of calling it a day in his playing career after the 2019 Ashes.

Why the need for a player-coach in near future?

It is a well-known fact that current England bowling coach, Ottis Gibson is the front-runner for the head coach position of the South African team. This would mean England will be in dire need of an experienced bowling coach to maintain good playing standards. James Anderson fits the role to a ‘T’ and as reported by Sportsmail, there is a hefty possibility of him taking up the player-coach role for the Ashes tour which starts in October.

How James Anderson fits in

While there is some scepticism surrounding the appointment of an active team member as a coach, for James Anderson it would merely be an ascent to something well-deserved. Being an extremely experienced member of the squad, Anderson is respected by fellow mates. In fact, current test captain, Joe Root ha been seen to position Anderson at the mid-off fielding spot constantly, so that he’s able to provide the bowler with valuable suggestions.

Moreover, since the time span for finding a replacement coach would be extremely short after Gibson’s departure, England director Andrew Strauss might consider Anderson as a viable prospect for the post. Strauss has previously shown he is willing enough to add current players to the coaching staff, having extended Durham captain Paul Collingwood’s fielding coach role from 60 to 100 days a year.