Ben Stokes feels James Anderson won't be retiring from cricket any time soon, with the England bowler continuing to shine in the twilight years of his career.
And the Three Lions skipper's comments have suggested the 41-year-old could be involved in next year's Ashes series against Australia.
England have named Anderson in their team for their fifth and final Test against India.
The veteran will go into the showdown knowing he needs just two wickets to become the first seamer in cricket history to claim 700 Test victims.
England star James Anderson is set to start his side's fifth and final Test against India
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And Stokes, speaking ahead of the clash, has admitted he 'can't see Anderson stopping' any time soon.
"It’s phenomenal to think of Jimmy coming up to 700 wickets," Stokes said of his team-mate.
"He’s had an amazing career and I just can’t see him stopping.
"I have played with Jimmy for a long time and I’ve never seen him as physically fit as he is now.
"Showing hunger and desire at 41 to get better every single day is testament to his attitude and commitment to the game."
England have already seen one icon retire over the past year.
Stuart Broad opted to retire from the sport after shining for the Three Lions in their 2-2 Ashes series draw against Australia.
Anderson has, however, so far resisted the urge to follow in his friend's footsteps.
The England legend missed the first Test against India through injury, having suffered with tightness in his quads.
But now he's fully fit and firing again, Anderson remains as crucial to the country as ever.
England go into the fifth and final Test with India playing for pride, with the tourists currently 3-1 down.
However, victory would see them become the first team to win two Tests on Indian soil since 2012.
And Stokes wants England to jet home with something positive, having been left enthused by their performances so far.
“We want to win this week,” Stokes said.
“The message again, in the huddle this morning, [was that] we’ve been on so many India tours, you know what it’s like when you get to an end of a long one that sometimes you start thinking about the end of the game.
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Ben Stokes has lavished praise on James Anderson and feels the England star is still going strong ahead of India clash
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“Whereas honestly, I don’t think that anyone is thinking like that because every opportunity we feel at the moment is special to play for England.
"Because we’ve lost the series, it doesn’t mean that this game is different to what last week was or the week before.
"We are playing international cricket and playing for England. Playing for England is the biggest and most wonderful thing to be able to do as a cricketer.
“If you take the result by itself you’d say, ‘Oh, we’ve going backwards’, but we haven’t.
"The individuals and the team have massively evolved on this tour. Even before we got here, I hadn’t seen the group for a very long time because of the rehab on my knee, but progression doesn’t always show itself with the results.
Ben Stokes wants England to beat India in the fifth and final Ashes Test
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"I think the way in which everyone committed to becoming a better version of themselves from when we last played was quite obvious.
“Everyone’s fitter. Everyone was just – I don’t want to say there’s more desire – but it was just a really different feel around how we operated from the summer before [2023].
"When you know that you’re part of something special, you want to work your nuts off to keep your place in the team.
“We’ve definitely evolved as a team. Just because the scoreline at the moment reads 3-1, it doesn’t mean that we’ve gone backwards.
"There are lots of these things that we have massively progressed on as a team whilst out on this tour.
“We haven’t been the pushovers like many teams have looked like when they’ve come over here because of how dominant a force India are in their home conditions.”
