I didn't fit in at school or have a group of mates...all I had was cricket says James Anderson

Burnley born Jimmy is largely considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time and indeed he holds the record of being England’s all-time leading wicket-taker.

However in a new interview with broadcaster James O’Brien, the 42-year-old revealed his life has not been short of adversity.

Talking on an episode of the podcast ‘Full Disclosure with James O'Brien’ entitled ‘Jimmy Anderson: Behind the Bowler’, the former St Theodore's RC High School pupil particularly spoke about how bullying affected him growing up.

Jimmy said: “Once I got to high school, that's when I just didn't really enjoy it. It was an all-boys school, which I think did have an effect on me. It was just constant, some people call it banter, but it got me down and made me eventually feel like I didn't want to go to school.

“[It was] only for a few days, but I was… Couldn’t face it. Yeah, I just didn't want to do it. I didn't want to tell my mum and dad about it, so my mum would drop me off at school and then I'd walk a little bit towards school. She'd drop me off at the bottom of the road, so I'd walk as if I'm going to school, and then I'd walk three miles in the other direction, sort of out of Burnley, get a sandwich on the way and walk back to school for pick up time."

Host James then probed the cricketer, gently getting him to admit that he was bullied before reflecting with his interviewee: “It's a hard word to say when you're that age, because it makes you feel like you've failed.”

Jimmy replied: “Yeah. I think back then as well, there was a feeling that if you, if I said anything to my parents, they'd say, you've got to stand up for yourself or whatever, but I knew that would just make it worse if I tried to stand up to some of the guys, they're bigger than me and more confident than I was. So it was unpleasant, definitely.”

Later in the interview, the father of two more optimistically looked at how his experience helped him grow- namely how it led to him pursuing cricket.

Jimyy said: "I do feel like it helped me as I got older, into my mid to late teens, wanting to really make something myself and do something that took me away from that area. Because it was lonely. I mean, you've said, I remember sitting in the same area, I think I remember sitting in my room thinking, I wish I wasn't me. I wish I was someone else.

“I didn't fit in at school or have a group of mates. The biggest thing for me then was the feeling of being lonely. Yeah. Yeah, that's, I mean, all I had in that time was cricket. That's the only sort of release I had of feeling like I had a life, I guess, having some sort of outlet to talk to people, to make friends.

“And right now, as soon as I left school, I didn't keep in touch with anyone from school. There was no one that I felt particularly close to or made really good friends with.”

You can listen to Full Disclosure with James O'Brien: Jimmy Anderson: Behind the Bowler on all major platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.