'You Are In The Wrong Sport': James Anderson Slams Ben Stokes' 'Effort' Remark

England fast-bowling great James Anderson has criticised men’s Test skipper Ben Stokes for lauding his team’s ‘effort’ during the 2025-26 Ashes, which they lost 4-1. Anderson said he felt like an angry Roy Keane, the Manchester United legend-turned-pundit, when he heard Stokes.

Keane is famous for his rants against players who don’t get their basics right during matches. There are several short videos available on the internet with compilations of Keane saying ‘that’s his job’ whenever someone praises a player for doing a rudimentary thing right. Similarly, Anderson said that ‘running’ should be the bare minimum for every cricketer, saying ‘you are in the wrong sport’ if you can’t hack that.

“When I saw Stokes come out and say, the way (Josh)

Tongue and (Brydon) Carse have just run in like consistently, I had a Roy Keane moment,” Anderson said on BBC Radio. “I was like, that’s your job. If you’re not willing to run in all day for your team, don’t bother. You’re in the wrong sport.”

Anderson was all praise for Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who was the top wicket-taker in the series.

“Starc, for me, was the absolute standout of the series. He bowled on Day 5 of the final Test as quick as he had bowled all series long. He was consistent with his speeds. But that is what you expect from all your bowlers. That is the standard. It always annoys me (when someone says) ‘can’t fault your efforts’. Well, the effort shouldn’t be a thing. It should just be in you.”

What did Stokes say?

Stokes had focused on the ‘commitment’ of his players, blaming England’s poor performance on the Ashes to their bad fielding and a ‘lack of execution’, almost disconnecting it from the preparation aspect.

“We’ve dropped a lot of catches on this tour which have been very costly to the overall situation of the games. In terms up of stepping up, I can never fault anyone’s commitment or energy that they’ve given into this. We haven’t performed well, we know that, we hold our hands up to that. But no one should question the care and commitment to try and go out there and give it your absolute best. It’s just been down to the lack of execution,” Stokes said after the last Test.