"England cannot keep wrapping him in cotton wool" - Geoffrey Boycott claims England should look beyond James Anderson
Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott is disappointed with the way England used veteran pacer James Anderson in the recently concluded Test series against India.
While Anderson became the first pacer in the history of the game to bag 700 Test wickets during the series, Boycott pointed out how sparingly the pacer was used, a factor that reduced his impact. At 41 years of age, Anderson's workload had to be monitored and England perhaps underbowled him, as per the former cricketer.
In his column for The Telegraph, here's what Geoffrey Boycott wrote about James Anderson by explaining why England needed to prepare for the future:
"Jimmy Anderson deserves all the adulation and plaudits for staying fit to play 187 Test matches and reach 700 wickets but, because of his age, he is used too sparingly. England cannot keep wrapping him in cotton wool and picking him on sentiment forever."
Geoffrey Boycott claimed that James Anderson is not the type of bowler England would benefit from when they go Down Under during the 2025-26 Australian summer for the all-important Ashes.
Geoffrey Boycott feels England have to straightaway invest in fresh faces
According to Geoffrey Boycott, England will need pacers who are ready to bowl long spells by bending their backs even on the most placid wickets. He is baffled to see the likes of Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts not get consistent game time despite bursting onto the Test scene.
On this, Boycott stated:
"Josh Tongue played at Lord’s against Australia and took five wickets and has never been seen again. Matt Potts 23 wickets in six Tests but has not played since the Ireland game last summer.
"Jimmy remains a great craftsman and he can give experience at one end while some new boys get bedded in at the other but before the Australia trip it will be time to nicely say, ‘Sayonara Jimmy, thank you for the memories. We have loved watching your skill but it is time to move on.’"
England are in eighth place in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table after losing six of their 10 Tests so far in the cycle. With just 17.5 point percentage, Ben Stokes and co. are on the brink of being eliminated from the race to the WTC final 2025.