Joe Root hails Jimmy Anderson as 'invaluable' as England legend becomes mentor to up-and-coming stars ahead of second Rothesay Test against West Indies following retirement

Joe Root says Jimmy Anderson’s transition from attack leader to bowling mentor coincides with a need for speed in next year’s Ashes.

Anderson, 42 later this month, is swapping the ‘best job in the world’ for what he hopes will be the second when England’s Rothesay Test series against West Indies resumes in Nottingham on Thursday.

England, meanwhile, are intent on including multiple seamers with extra pace during the 17 Tests between now and attempts to wrest the urn from Australian hands and Gus Atkinson, fresh from the best figures by an Englishman on debut since 1890, has been joined in the 14-man squad for Trent Bridge by Mark Wood.

‘As a player they're the series that you're always looking forward to, they're the ones you're always building towards,’ Root said.

‘More than anything you look at what we've had in previous tours in Australia and what we feel like is going to be successful out there in those conditions.

‘When teams have gone out there what they need for those conditions is someone like Gus that can bowl at the late 80s and early 90s (in miles per hour) and still move the ball around and make things happen at high pace. It was great to see him come in and do that on such a slow wicket here.’

On the previous Ashes tour of 2021-22, one which according to Root was simply ‘about keeping the lights on’, Wood was the only member of the visiting attack in the top five wicket-takers of the series, but the emergence of Surrey’s Atkinson, who began his Test career with match figures of 12 for 106 and the potential of adding Jofra Archer to the mix following a 2024 diet of white-ball cricket offers a distinctly different dynamic.

‘Gus has been around things for a long time, both in white and red ball and on a few tours, and it was great to see him come in. We've seen it in spurts in county cricket, and in practice you can see what talent he has, what ability he's got,’ Root continued.

‘For him to just transfer that straight away onto this stage, take advantage of some bowler friendly conditions and back it up in the second innings as well was just fantastic to see.

‘The future does look very bright in the bowling department. We lost our greatest ever bowler, but for someone to come in and do that, that shows a lot about where we are as a team.’

Over the next few days, Anderson will be on hand to offer advice to a group that also includes Durham up-and-comer Matthew Potts and the uncapped Dillon Pennington, of Nottinghamshire, in addition to the long-serving Chris Woakes.

The shadow of England’s doyen of fast bowling will loom large for some, but Root advocated the benefits, when he said: ‘You can’t buy that experience, can you? No fast bowler’s played that amount of Test matches, taken that amount of wickets.

‘To have that amount of knowledge to bounce off, it’s invaluable really. To be able to have that right in the palm of your hand and to learn from it is going to be great at the start of your Test career.'

Root, 33, is nearer to the other end of that particular spectrum, although England’s most-capped active player - following the retirements of Anderson and Stuart Broad 12 months apart - dismissed the prospect of following any time soon, saying ‘I'd like to think I’ll be playing for a good while yet.’

Drawing things back to the present, meanwhile, he warned of complacency after England eased into a 1-0 lead at Lord’s, recalling West Indies’ headline-grabbing performance at the start of 2024.

‘You only have to look back to January and what they were capable of doing out in Australia at Brisbane, which is such a hard place to win a Test match,’ Root said.

‘We won't underestimate them, we know what talent they've got.’