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Former England captain and top batter Joe Root has dismissed retirement talks following James Anderson’s farewell Test at Lord’s, saying ‘he’s around for a while’. Having played with Anderson since his Test debut in 2012 to leading him in 46 Tests – second most after Alastair Cook (49), Root admits he would miss England’s most successful seamer in the dressing room.

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With Anderson joining England’s backroom staff as a bowling consultant following his international retirement, he would still make his presence felt; however, Root admits that despite the deadly duo of Broad (who retired last year) and Anderson retiring, England must move on looking at the Ashes next year.

“For me, all I've ever known for England is playing alongside Jimmy, and that's been for 12 years,” Root said.

“It's a bit of a weird one, seeing Stuart [Broad] go last year and [now] Jimmy. I'll terribly miss playing alongside him, but the fact that he'll be around for the summer will be great for the young bowlers coming through and for us to keep using that experience and everything else he has to offer the dressing room." 

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“I'm really pleased that he's been able to have the send-off that he deserves, but also, it's, in some ways, a little bit sad to see him go,” Root said after the first Test in London, which England won by an innings and 114 runs.

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Considering retirement was being forced upon Anderson because head coach Brendon McCullum and Captain Ben Stokes wanted a younger squad in the lead-up to the away Ashes in 2025, England still has 17 Tests to prepare and finalise their team for the marquee series.

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Meanwhile, Root commented on how it unfolded the last time and what’s in store for the English Test side Down Under.

"Arguably, we shouldn't have gone last time, should we, in retrospect? Thinking of Covid, it was about keeping the lights on the last time we went.

"It's a new opportunity for us. We did what we thought was the right thing at the time. We'll be in a completely different place going into next time. I think the key is, you can plan, and you can have all the best intentions of getting a result, it still has to fall into place,” Root continued.

Root dismisses retirement talks

Shortly after answering questions about Anderson and Ashes, Root replied to a question regarding his Test future, to which he replied, "Oh here we go. Not at the minute. I'd like to think I'll be playing for a good while yet. And when that day comes, I'm sure I'll figure something out."

"You've got to earn the right to have that sort of fairytale ending, like the likes of Jimmy, Stuart, Cookie [at the Oval in 2018] have had. My focus purely is on scoring as many runs for this team as I can and helping us win as many games as we can."

"Until that focus changes and until that drive changes, then I'll continue to solely focus on that, and we'll worry about that hopefully a long way down the road,” Root continued. 

The second Test begins on Thursday (July 18) in Trent Bridge. 

(With inputs from agencies)