England want to arrive in Australia next winter with a "battery" of fast bowlers and James Anderson believes the list of candidates for that tour is "growing and growing". Anderson has worked as their fast-bowling coach since he was ushered into retirement in July and said on Sunday that he is excited by the emergence of a new generation of seam bowlers.
Rob Key, England's managing director, has been vocal in his ambition to bring through a stock of quicks who bowl "85mph-plus with high skill" as they look to replace Anderson and Stuart Broad. Last year, he offered two-year contracts to four seamers - Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matt Potts and Josh Tongue - whom he believes have the attributes to succeed at Test level.
Tongue has spent the last 14 months sidelined with a pectoral injury, while Potts has only played two Tests since June 2023. But Atkinson has thrived, taking 38 wickets at 21.86 in his first seven Tests and scoring a century against Sri Lanka, while Carse impressed on debut in Multan last week with his speed, skill and stamina.
"[Atkinson] seems to rise to every challenge that's put in front of him," Anderson said. "Brydon was outstanding… To bowl 90mph in that heat, pretty consistently, was an amazing effort. He was accurate, he bowled good short stuff when we needed him to do that, and he bowls wicket-taking balls - and that's what we're after, as a bowling group.
"He has always been on the radar of the selector for the away Ashes… It looks like he has all the attributes to do well there. He has got pace, bounce and he is accurate, and he has skills and he can bat. He is ticking a lot of boxes. Hopefully, he can stay fit and get a lot of confidence from how he bowled the other day."
England are missing Mark Wood in Pakistan due to his elbow injury, while they still hope that Jofra Archer might return to Test cricket next year after a three-year absence. Archer has spent most of that time sidelined with back and elbow issues but has gradually stepped up his workload over the past six months and still has ambitions to play all formats.
"The list is not endless, but it feels like it is growing and growing," Anderson said. "We've got the likes of Woody and Jofra [to come back in] but also Olly Stone and Josh Tongue. It feels like there's loads of guys coming through -- Josh Hull as well, who we think has got a good future.
"It does feel like there are options there. It is really exciting for an England group at the minute, thinking of what we have ahead with India next summer, then Australia, and then going forward over the next three years."
Anderson's involvement with England's fast bowlers is officially as a consultant coach for their winter Test tours to Pakistan and New Zealand, with his longer-term future with the team unclear. He left open the possibility of extending his role further down the line, potentially including next winter's Ashes tour.
"I'm really enjoying it," Anderson said. "We have an amazing coaching group who have been really helpful. I've not officially done this job before, but I feel like it's not far off where I was for the last few years of my career: trying to be there for bowlers, help them as much as possible, come up with ideas when we're in the field. It's been great… so far, so good."
He also played down the significance of his late arrival for the tour, having missed England's three training days and the first day of the first Test. Anderson was instead playing in a pro-am golf tournament at St Andrews, but said that he had only agreed to participate after running the idea past England coach Brendon McCullum.
"I'm not full-time with England, I'm a consultant," Anderson said. "I was still in contact with the bowlers and in the end, it didn't really matter that I wasn't here. I thought we bowled really well… The last few tours I went on, we didn't have a bowling coach and it is good for the lads to take some responsibility."