Anderson: I wanted to be considered for captaincy
Bowler was interested in leading England in Tests Fight to get match fit after shoulder injury
With his forensic understanding of bowling, Anderson has long been regarded as one of the sharpest cricketing brains in the England dressing room.
He captained Lancashire on their recent pre-season tour of the United Arab Emirates, and it is one of the anomalies of modern English cricket that neither he nor Broad has had the opportunity to take charge of England in Test cricket.
In recent years the likes of Shaun Pollock, Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have all captained their countries with no have played with or against have been pretty successful – Glen Chapple here at Lancashire won the Championship.
“At the same time, it is nice for Joe to hopefully have me and Stuart opening the bowling. For a young captain to have experienced guys like that will be really helpful to him and his growth into that role. My mindset never changes: I’m always thinking about ways to help the team if I’m captain or not.”
Anderson was speaking at Old Trafford ahead of Lancashire’s County Championship campaign, which starts next week with a trip to Essex.
He will play two of Lancashire’s first three games as he attempts to get match fit following the shoulder injury that forced him to miss part of England’s series against India in the winter. There will be no sentimental Tiger Woods return to the Masters field on the 20th anniversary of his spectacular first Augusta triumph. The four-time winner last revealed that he has lost the race to be fit.
The news came as a blow to the sport, particularly after hopes had been raised on Thursday when it was revealed that he would give an interview in the media centre. But he will be at Augusta on Tuesday for the Champions’ Dinner anyway and his time with the press is presumably to talk about 1997 and the week in which he transformed the game. And to promote his recent book about the watershed win.
With speculation at fever pitch that Woods would return to his most furtive hunting ground despite a two-month absence caused by back spams, the 41-year-old did his customary Friday news dump. It means he will have missed three of the past four Masters.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be competing in this year’s Masters,” Woods said in a statement on his website. “I did about everything I could to play, but my back rehabilitation didn’t allow me the time to get tournament ready. I’m especially upset because it’s a special anniversary for me that’s filled with a lot of great memories. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since I won my first Green Jacket. I have no timetable for my return, but I will continue my diligent effort to recover, and want to get back out there as soon as possible.” Reed, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Lee Westwood all missing the cut. And although a dreadful forecast for the weekend here will have soothed their disappointment somewhat, as Justin Rose pointed out, “They’d all rather have played well”.
For his part, after skipping last week’s WGC Matchplay, Rose, on six-under after a 71, is simply glad of the preparation time and that, apparently, is all that what these next two rounds will be solely concerned with – preparation.
That is because Sung Kang, the unheralded 29-year-old from Korea, has slipped the field on 16-under after a stunning nine-under 63, which gave him an early six-shot lead.