It will take a long time to find another Cook, Broad or Anderson… critics should be careful

Those who think it might be time for three of the greats of the English game in Alastair Cook, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad to be eased towards the Test exit door should be careful what they wish for.

There just seems to have been some uncertainty surrounding all three at various points in recent times but we are talking about once in a generation cricketers who will be seriously hard to replace.

England should be trying to get every ounce of cricket they can squeeze out of them and keep them going for as long as they can because it will take a long time to find another Cook, Anderson or Broad.

Stuart Broad was among the senior  England players to perform well at Headingley

Broad and Anderson should be allowed to keep playing as they will be difficult to replace

Broad and Anderson should be allowed to keep playing as they will be difficult to replace

When I became captain in 1999, with England going through a similar rough patch to this one, there were voices in selection who would tell me people like Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and Mike Atherton should go.

But I wanted a group of senior players to keep taking us forward rather than just start again with youngsters and the key is whether any older player still has the will, desire and hunger to make a difference for their country.

You do not end up with a record like Cook’s or Anderson’s without making sacrifices and being prepared to put in the hard yards and there appears no indication that any of the three are losing their powers.

Broad was at a low point after the Ashes and hadn’t bowled particularly well for some time but he acknowledged he had a problem, where his wrist was coming down the side of the ball, and went away on his own to solve it.

He is also clearly listening to what the coaches want him to do because, of all England’s bowlers at Lord’s and here, Broad was the one trying to pitch the ball up that little bit fuller. He wants to play for England for as long as possible.

Anderson did not bowl particularly well before lunch on Friday but he corrected it straight afterwards. The Jimmy I knew when he first broke through found it very easy to bowl a full length and swing the ball at pace but I think he finds it more natural now to hit a slightly shorter length.

When he does bowl full it can become a bit floaty and he can get driven but in the last 15 Tests he has been getting his wickets at 19 apiece so clearly he is still doing a lot of things right. And he can still adapt his game to conditions.

Anderson is still getting wickets at 19 apiece and has so much to offer the team

Anderson is still getting wickets at 19 apiece and has so much to offer the team

Look at how Cook played in the first innings at Lord’s and here. He, too, made a decision to sort out his indifferent form on his own and is working on the position he wants to be at the crease, transferring his weight further forward.

The former captain does not strike me as someone who has said ‘sod it, I will coast towards retirement.’ England are still looking for a replacement for Andrew Strauss six years after he retired so the last thing they need is to have to search for two openers by jettisoning Cook.

Far from worrying about those three, the fundamental issue for the new selection panel is whether they are going to look to win the game in front of them or concentrate now on improving their dismal away record.

And I still think some of the thinking on that this season has been muddled. You cannot tell me that in May in English conditions at Lord’s with a Duke ball Chris Woakes should not be playing.

Alastair Cook has been working hard off the pitch into transferring his weight forward

Alastair Cook has been working hard off the pitch into transferring his weight forward

But he is taking his wickets abroad at 60 apiece so clearly England felt it would be beneficial to get Mark Wood in the team because he remains the sort of bowler they will need on unresponsive pitches this winter and beyond.

They rectified that mistake by restoring Woakes here and if it were down to me I would always be looking to win in the here and now while telling someone like Andy Flower, or Mark Ramprakash now he is in temporary charge of the Lions, to find the players who will be needed in Sri Lanka and West Indies.

You can pick people who might prosper overseas at home when you are winning but England are not good enough to do that yet. And they are not good enough to even think of discarding Cook, Anderson or Broad. 



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