It was at this Oval that Alastair Cook retired from Tests five years ago. Many thought that Anderson would say goodbye to the same field. The pacer, who took the most wickets for England with 689, will turn 41 on the fourth day of the Oval Test. But Anderson is not willing to look at age or form yet. The captain wants to play as long as he wants. Stokes also has faith in the experienced pacer.
According to Stokes, the talk around playing Anderson is a bit much. Stokes also cited the name of Joe Root as an example, "If Joe Root had not been able to play as expected, you would not have questioned his presence in the team as a batsman. Anderson is the best fast bowler in the history of this game. He still looks like two years ago.
England come to The Oval with the challenge of leveling the series. At the moment, Australia is leading by 2-1. If you want to equalize, you have to win, not even a draw at the Oval. Stokes is trusting the experience of Anderson who is out of form in such a must-win match. The England captain's statement at the pre-match press conference yesterday was, 'He could not play the role he played. But Anderson is a quality bowler. It is difficult for me to sit in this chair and say no to him.'
In a column in the Telegraph yesterday, Anderson himself said he still felt like a competitive cricketer. He is not thinking about retirement yet.
