In his book Finding the Edge, James Anderson recounts a pivotal conversation about his potential retirement with England Test captain Ben Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum, and ECB managing director Rob Key at a hotel in Manchester. As he approached them, Anderson sensed the gravity of the discussion. “As I walk towards them, it hits me cold. This isn’t a team appraisal, is it?” Anderson wrote. “With each footstep toward the far side of the bar, each of their distinct silhouettes coming into view, the tram journey just gone is suddenly like a blissful past life, the outdoor sun sucked into a horizonless neon-red darkness. “My brain is doing the maths and my heart is sinking as I go to shake their hands. I feel like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, ushered into a room under the impression that I’m going to get made, only to be shot. You f******. “They’re going to tell me something I don’t want to be told, aren’t they? Something I’ve been swerving, darting, shapeshifting, bowling through my whole life.” England’s …