“I still see a future for me in one-day cricket”
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England pace bowler James Anderson has insisted that he will continue representing his country in ODIs even though he was dropped for the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand.
Anderson was left out of the ODI squad in order to get some much-needed rest prior to the Ashes series next month.
“I still want to play all forms of the game,” he told Sky Sports. “But it’s probably sensible this year, in particular, where we have got a lot of Test cricket and with an Ashes Series coming up, that some of the guys are given a chance.
“I still see a future for me in one-day cricket, but this year, with a lot of Test cricket, I want to give that my full focus, especially with this Ashes Series, I can throw myself into that.”
Anderson also pointed out that he is excited to work with newly appointed head coach Trevor Bayliss and hopes that the 52-year-old’s experience of coaching Australia during their three-match Twenty20 series against South Africa in November 2014 will come in handy.
“I think everyone’s really excited,” Anderson said. “I’ve never met him (Bayliss) before but all the things we hear from people that he has coached around the world are good things.
“I think he’s quite an old-fashioned type of coach which will probably be good for us – quite a hard-nosed guy and trying to push us in the right direction.
“I think we’ve got the basis of a good team and hopefully he can just take us on that step further.”
Despite England being labelled as the underdogs heading into the Ashes, especially after they were whitewashed 5-0 in the last series, Anderson is confident that the national team can put Australia on the back foot by winning the first Test in Cardiff.
“It’s crucial, especially in a five-match series, you need to hit the ground running,” he said. “We are keen to do that in Cardiff. We’ve played there before in Ashes series and got off to good starts, whether it’s scraping a draw or getting a win, so we are hopeful that we will start the series well there.
“With a young side I think being underdogs is a good thing for us. We can go out there and play with freedom. The young guys can just express themselves as they did in the New Zealand series and hopefully that will stand us in good stead.”
Anderson also took the opportunity to pay tribute to his former England team-mate Craig Kieswetter, who announced his retirement on Friday due to a serious eye injury he sustained last year.
“It’s a really sad time for him I guess, having such a horrific injury like that and having to give up the game is a really unfortunate thing,” Anderson said. “He was such a great player, such a talented guy, had a great career and I played a lot with him. He’s such a nice lad and it’s just a shame seeing him having to retire.”