Most of domestic cricket’s transfer business has already been concluded. 

But the sudden availability of Jimmy Anderson has sparked a sudden stream of directors of cricket pleading for a stretching of the playing budget for 2027. 

He may be 44, but Anderson is, as one senior figure at a Division One county put it “as close to a sure fire thing” as you’re likely to get in the English game. 

“You’re probably not going  to get a full season out of him, but you probably don’t need one,” he told The i Paper.

“If he plays 10 matches then he’s still going to get you a ton of wickets. 

“Look at his return for Lancashire last season. In a struggling side [Lancashire finished second from bottom, with just two wins in 14 matches] he still took 50 wickets at 17. That’s extraordinary. 

“Yes, he’s the oldest cricketer, but he’s probably still one of the best.”  

He won’t be cheap. 

One director of cricket told The i Paper that Anderson could probably command a contract of up to £150,000 a year.

In football terms, that would probably put him in League Two territory or lower, but in domestic cricket that’s still top dollar – and enough to probably rule out a move to over half of the 18 first class counties.

“It’ll be interesting,” says one senior figure at a Division Two side.  

“There are few things to consider – you’re playing him and you’re not playing a youngster, so it’s a balancing act.

“If you’re in Division Two, you’re desperate to get out and there will always be counties that need a short-term fix and might turn around and say ‘we’ll forgo an overseas player this season and go for Jimmy instead’.  

“I can definitely see that happening.”

Bringing in the highest wicket-taker in Test history could also have a commercial upside, albeit one limited by the size of the domestic cricket market.

“There would be some people who might take out a membership who might not otherwise have done just to see Jimmy in what might be his final season,” says one former head of cricket who has known the Lancastrian throughout his career. 

“But let’s face it, this isn’t football. You’re not suddenly going to see replica shirts with Anderson on flying off the shelves, that just doesn’t happen.

“I can see the upside of bringing him in to work with the younger bowlers but you would need to know what he was going to be like around the dressing room before committing. I can see that a summer with Jimmy could be transformative for a young bowler but you would need to make it clear that that was part of his role and remit.  

“I suppose the predicament he’s in is why he’s such a great performer: he’s a guy who never gives up, he’s a guy who will run in for you all day and he’s probably looking around at the options available to him and thinking that continuing to play is the best of them.

“There’s probably a bit of fear in him too: ‘What do I next?’ Because wherever he goes next he’s going into a world where he won’t be as confident as he is in the [role] he’s occupying right now.

“He still enjoys getting out there and playing.”

Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire or Somerset is one director of cricket’s prediction for where he might end up.

“He would be the perfect man to bolster a squad’s bowling reserves,” he says. “And you know what you’re going to get every time you call him up.”   

The head coach of one Division Two county tells The i Paper that Anderson would be “…a very good buy,” before adding, wistfully, that he didn’t have the budget to offer him a deal.  

The chances are though, that someone will.

And that the Anderson fairy tale will continue in 2027. And perhaps beyond.