Dropping me has made no sense, claims Anderson
JIMMY ANDERSON has ‘stopped trying to make sense’ of England’s decision to drop him and admits he has not spoken to captain Joe Root or anyone at the ECB for weeks. England’s all-time leading wickettaker was controversially axed from last month’s 1-0 Test series defeat in West Indies, along with long-time new-ball partner Stuart Broad. Anderson, 39, has no plans to call time on his international career and is desperate to regain his place for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2. However, he is still baffled as to why he was left out of the squad for the Caribbean, with his future in limbo until the ECB appoint a new managing director and head coach. Asked if he understood the decision seven weeks on, he replied: ‘Absolutely not. I’ve stopped trying to make sense of it and just put it to one side. ‘It’s quite a big deal because it came out of the blue. I still feel like I’m bowling well. ‘I was in the top ten of the world rankings, so I feel like I’m doing a good job for the team. I feel like I’ve got a lot to offer, not just on the field but off it. ‘I’ve now got to focus on what I can control and that is bowling as well as I possibly can for Lancashire. Try and take as many wickets as I possibly can and see what happens from there. If I can still perform and my body is up to the challenge then I will keep doing that.’ Anderson was told of his England omission during a ‘five-minute phone call’ with interim managing director Sir Andrew Strauss in February, while Root said he also spoke to his opening bowler. Despite still having a central contract, he had no further communication from anyone in a position of power. ‘I would have loved a sit-down, face-to-face, I would have loved more than a five-minutes phone call, but that’s not always possible,’ he said. ‘It feels a bit strange because
I’m still centrally contracted, but not had too much feedback from them. It is a bit up in the air. ‘I’ve spoken to the head physio but there’s nobody in those positions permanently so I’m presuming that is why I’ve not heard anything. I would expect to hear something once those positions are filled. ‘It’s not about me, the team needs a coach in place as soon as possible. It’s not that far until the start of the international summer, so I think the sooner the better. That first Test is in our minds. Being centrally contracted, that is how we should be thinking.’ Following the so-called red-ball ‘reset’ in the wake of the Ashes, Root praised the ‘big improvement’ in England’s attitude in the West Indies. Asked if he was difficult to captain, Anderson said: ‘Not really. I’ve done what I did for quite a long period of time. ‘I feel like I know what I’m doing. I don’t think I’m extremely stubborn. I will take advice and feedback from people. You’d have to ask Joe what he means by that. ‘Our Test form has been poor for two years. I think it is a natural thing that everything comes under scrutiny. I’m not too sure what the “reset” thing actually means.’