IN the aftermath of a disastrous World Cup in Australia; clamour for fresh blood in both the England one-day and Test teams has been intensifying but Darren Gough has dismissed calls to axe Burnley-born pace ace James Anderson as ludicrous.

Lancashire bowler Anderson needs just four wickets to surpass Sir Ian Botham’s England Test record of 383 wickets and should achieve the milestone in the opening match of the three-Test series in the West Indies beginning on April 13; meaning he would do so in his 100th international.

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Gough is the first to admit Anderson and his new-ball bowling partner Stuart Broad were way off the mark during the World Cup in Australia but is backing the Lancashire man to bounce back in style in the Caribbean.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has called for Anderson and Broad to retire from one-day international cricket and concentrate on the Test arena but Gough says the pair still have much to offer Peter Moores.

“I don’t think it’s down to that missing aggression that Jimmy Anderson needs to get back, I think he is a terrific bowler still for England in all forms of the game,” said Gough, who is taking part in the second Investec Ashes Cycle Challenge to raise funds for the Lord’s Taverners in July, the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity, with the inaugural event raising over £280,000 for the Lord’s Taverners and other charities in 2013.

“He’s been great, and I mean great, for a long time now. In one-day cricket he didn’t do well in Australia; he’ll be the first to admit that.

“He and Stuart Broad didn’t bowl straight enough with the new ball and didn’t bowl straight enough at the end – simple as that. Other teams and the successful bowlers at the World Cup – look at the ones who took the wickets – what did they do? They bowled at the stumps.

“We didn’t do that and we didn’t take early wickets and that’s one of the reasons why we never really bowled teams out for totals that they should have been.

“But he is a terrific performer, as is Stuart Broad, and I expect them to come back well in the Caribbean. They both bowl well with the new ball, especially Jimmy swinging it and Broad as the ball gets older.

“I’m looking forward to them coming back against the West Indies and I’m sure they will because they are both top players.”

  • To support Goughie’s fundraising efforts please visit www.lordstaverners.org/ashescycle and keep up with the team’s progress by following @LordsTaverners and @Investecwin – to donate text VELO15 £5 or £10 to 70070