MANCHESTER: Veteran England seamer James Anderson believes the extended break afforded to him by cricket’s suspension during the Covid-19 pandemic could prolong his career by up to two years.

The cricket season was brought to a halt in March and England’s three-test series against the West Indies was pushed back from its June start.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has set a provisional date of July 8 for the series to begin and Anderson, who has not played since suffering a rib injury in January, was part of a 55-strong group asked to return to training.

“The break could just add on a year or two at the end of my career,” 37-year-old Anderson, Test cricket’s most prolific fast bowler with 584 wickets, said on the Tailenders podcast. “I’ve really enjoyed being back; and as odd as it is just bowling into a net with not many people around, it’s still nice to be back and playing cricket.”

England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler previously said the shutdown had allowed cricketers to recharge their batteries and could prove beneficial in the long run.

With games set to be played without fans, Anderson believes that crowd noise should be piped in to improve the atmosphere in stadiums.

“I’ve been watching the rugby league in Australia and I actually thought there was a crowd watching,” the Lancashire paceman said. “I thought it worked. It was nice to have that sort of atmosphere even though there was no one there.”

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2020