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Jimmy Anderson has said turning out for Lancashire will take precedence over any coaching opportunities with England this summer after agreeing a new one-year contract to play in the County Championship and the T20 Blast.
The 42-year-old has been working as a consultant coach for England since his enforced retirement from Test cricket last summer and will be part of Brendon McCullum’s backroom staff for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next month.
However, Anderson has also stated his intention to continue playing and, after missing out on a deal in the Indian Premier League, has now agreed a season-long contract at his boyhood club that will include the club’s bid to climb out of Division Two after last year’s relegation.
“I’ll play as much as I can really,” Anderson told the BBC Tailenders podcast. “As much as I have enjoyed coaching, I’ll see how that fits this summer. But while I’m still able to play – fit enough, and young enough – I want to do that. I can’t do that in three years. [Playing for Lancashire] will take precedence over anything else in the summer.”
Mark Chilton, the director of cricket at Lancashire, said: “As it stands, he is fully committed to the county season across both the County Championship and the Blast, and while we all recognise he will have other opportunities, he has made it clear playing is his first priority.
“To be able to share a dressing room with England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, and one of cricket’s greatest players, is incredible for our squad.”
Anderson, who has been coaching with England on a freelance basis, is currently in Abu Dhabi working with the seamers Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse ahead of the white-ball tour of India that gets underway next week and serves as a warm-up for the eight-team Champions Trophy.
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Warwickshire have signed the Australian Beau Webster for the first three months of the summer following the all-rounder’s recent Test debut against India in Sydney.
