England team managing director Rob Key reveals conversations with James Anderson on his future

London [UK], May 14 : England men's cricket team managing director Rob Key revealed how the team management reached the conclusion as to how it was time to move on from veteran pacer James Anderson and what conversations he, Test coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes had with the 41-year-old in Manchester.
England pace spearhead James Anderson is set to hang up his boots in the upcoming Test summer following a 22-year-long illustrious international career with England, announced the veteran on his social media. Anderson, the 41-year-old ageless wonder who has won acclaim for his fitness and pace despite his age, took to Instagram last week to announce that the first Test of the summer against West Indies on July 10 will mark his final international appearance.
Speaking on the BBC's Test Match Special Podcast as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Key said that he told Anderson that they should meet in person.
"When we made the decision and we thought, 'OK, we need to go and meet Jimmy and discuss the future', Brendon came to the conclusion that the right thing to do was to fly over to England [from New Zealand]," Key told the BBC's Test Match Special podcast as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"The three of us went up to see him: myself and Brendon caught the train up from London, and Stokesy was in Manchester, getting ready to fly out to America for a family holiday. We all met Jimmy in a hotel near the station and we had a conversation for about an hour and a half, which Baz led. I do not think Jimmy was expecting it, but I do not think it was completely unexpected," he added.
Key said that Anderson had made his decision to play one more Test and he was aware of the fact that his time to retire was coming. He also said that they all also discussed Anderson's post-retirement future as well.
"In the back of his mind, he knew that the time was coming, and we discussed lots of different things as well, and the future for Jimmy after playing... we did not impress upon him that he had to make the decision there, and then not so long ago, he decided that the Lord's game was going to be his last.
"We just sort of said, 'look, I think it is time for us to move on.' We are coming to a stage now where we have got to start looking towards the future... people now need the opportunity to learn how to bowl with that new ball, to go through a day's worth of Test cricket and then realise they have got to back it up the next day. Now is the time that people have to start learning that," Key added.
Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are expected to be part of England's pace battery when they take on West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer, with matches starting from July 10 onwards. Also, pacers Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson are among other centrally contracted players. Jamie Overton. Matthew Potts and Saqib Mahmood played Test cricket in 2022. Key also mentioned other contenders to be a part of England's pace attack as Dillon Pennington, Olly Stone and Sam Cook.
Key also said that England is clear about Robinson and that he needs to get more robust.
"At his best, when he is running in and attacking the crease and he is in rhythm, he is a very, very good bowler. When he's down to 78-79mph, he goes back into the pack and there are other guys that do what Ollie Robinson can do," he added.
Jofra Archer, the England's star pacer, is not in contention to play Test cricket but could play for Sussex against Kent this week to build up his workload ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup starting from June 1 onwards.