My stomach sunk when I was told my international career was over says Lancashire's James Anderson

England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson, 42 has told the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025’s podcast, William Hill Sports Book Club, that he was “flattened” after being told his international career was over.

Speaking on the talkSPORT2 radio show which delves into some of the year’s most exceptional sports books in contention for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025, Anderson said: “I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out what was coming. Normally, when you have an appraisal, it’s just with [ECB Managing Director of men’s cricket] Rob Key. But as I got off the tram to the hotel, I was wondering why Brendon McCullum had flown over from New Zealand, with Ben Stokes there as well. It was then that I thought it wasn’t going to be good news.

“My stomach sunk at that moment. At the time, I thought I could keep going but they told me they couldn’t see me making The Ashes 18 months later down the line – I hadn’t even thought that far ahead.

“Throughout the entirety of my career, I was thinking about the next series and would prepare for that, instead of thinking about what’s to come in six months’ time – it was always about the here and now for me. I had been preparing for a long summer in the gym and to work on my bowling, then all of a sudden it was taken away from me – it was flattening.

“I had just been told I’d never play for England again, and then I had to go to Old Trafford and sit on my hands in the Stretford End, watching Manchester United play Burnley with two mates!”

The father of two also told the podcast that he disagrees with the expectation that professional athletes should retire once they reach a certain age, claiming that being branded as a ‘veteran’ at the age of 32 seemed premature.

He added: “In sport, there’s a lot of noise made about age – which I don’t think should be the case all the time. I was watching a game of football the other day with a 36-year-old in midfield who’s considered a ‘veteran’, I was coming into my prime at 36 as a Test cricketer!

“Everyone is different and there shouldn’t be a limit on how long you should be able to play for and what you can achieve at whatever age. I’ve always had a bee in my bonnet about this because since I was 32, there was almost an expectation for me to retire as I was considered a ‘veteran’ and I don’t think that’s fair in any sport. It’s unfair to give a sportsperson a limit – we’ve seen plenty of examples of professional sportsmen and women venturing into their 40s and the expectation to retire can be taken very personally.

“When I retired, I went straight into mentoring and coaching. I understand that the ECB and the coaching staff made a decision and that was the direction they wanted to go – I can’t change that. They’re good people, they’re not doing it out of spite, it’s what they think is in the best interest of English cricket. I’m over it now, I promise!”

James Anderson joined the William Hill Sports Book Club to discuss his book ‘Finding The Edge’, which has been entered into this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025.

You can watch previous episodes of William Hill’s Sports Book Club here.