'I don't feel old or like I am slowing down or anything': James Anderson ahead of his 173rd Test

With England hosting South Africa in the first Test of their three-match series on Wednesday at Lord's, it will also be veteran pacer James Anderson's 173rd international red-ball match. Ahead of the fixture, the 40-year-old decided to give an update on his retirement and it looks like he won't be quitting anytime soon. Speaking to ICC, he said, "I don't feel old or like I am slowing down or anything".

"The last few weeks I have been working hard and training, trying to work on my bowling again and keep that ticking over, then the last couple of days I have felt in great rhythm and hopefully I can show that on the field."

Anderson was in excellent form during England's fifth Test match victory against India this year in Birmingham and also registered his 32nd five-wicket haul of his Test career. Also in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC), he has the third-most wickets (40). He is England's highest wicket-taker in Test history with 657 dismissals.

Pointing out that he is in good form for the South Africa series, Anderson said, "I don't feel old or that I'm slowing down. I don't have any personal goals I just want to keep enjoying my cricket. During the Tests earlier in the summer I felt really invigorated by the way we were asked to bowl as a bowling group. It was a change of mindset. I loved the aggressive nature of it and I'm looking forward to being a part of it."

Recently Anderson also spoke about how Test cricket has been losing its popularity. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, he said that everyone is only interested in franchise cricket. "Definitely not after that because no-one will be stupid enough. Everything that has gone in the world with franchise cricket, the Hundred, short forms of the game, I can't see anyone wanting to play Test cricket for this long", he said.