England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who is leading Birmingham Phoenix in the ongoing season of the Hundred, has made a bold claim about retired English pacer Jimmy Anderson. After his team’s satisfactory victory over the Manchester Originals on Thursday, the spin bowling all-rounder had some words of appreciation for his retired former English teammate in the post-conference.
According to him, he would be open to welcoming Anderson in The Hundred 2024 if one of his frontline seamers suffered an injury setback.
“If we had an injury, I would honestly have tried to call up Jimmy Anderson, because he would have been awesome. They’ve been swinging it every game. If we had an injury, I have been talking about it,” he said.
Ali further hailed Anderson, saying, “I would’ve tried to get Jimmy to play. Other teams would do the same. He would be amazing in this format, the way the balls are swinging. Who is better than him when it’s swinging?”
Referring to English pacer Chris Wood, Moeen talked about how he had an option to cover for Anderson. Yet he acknowledged how Anderson would bring a lot to the team with his presence. “We had Woody to cover him, but if one of our bowlers went down…! I’m not sure if it’s still possible. Woody, he is a great guy, but his experience—you can’t beat it. He brings a lot to the team,” he said.
Speaking of The Hundred, Birmingham Phoenix managed to beat Manchester Originals by nine wickets at Edgbaston on August 15. Having elected to field first, Ali’s men curtailed the Originals at 41/5. Adam Milne picked up two wickets while giving away eight runs in 10 balls. The trio of Tim Southee, Sean Abbott, and Chris Wood chipped in with a scalp each.
The second half saw Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett add 14 and 22 runs, respectively. Ali added an unbeaten six runs to win the match. Their overseas-heavy bowling unit proved instrumental in the side qualifying for the Eliminator this Saturday.
The Birmingham Phoenix will next take on the Southern Brave at the Oval. As for Anderson, the retired pacer will continue serving as the mentor to England’s Test squad.
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