Anderson on Attitude cover: ‘Wife told me it was a good idea’

Jimmy Anderson discusses his classic Attitude cover shoot in the latest episode of BT Sport’s The Clare Balding Show.

The England international became the first cricketer to appear in the pages of Attitude when he stripped off for our October 2010 issue.

After showing an image of Anderson on the cover of Attitude, Balding jokes: “You’ve got trousers on – how did you get away with that!”

Discussing the message he sent out by appearing in a gay lifestyle magazine, Anderson recalls: “I was a little bit sceptical about doing that at first, but it was probably my wife who said it was a good idea to do it at first.

“I think it was a great thing to do in the end and I think there aren’t – in cricket certainly – there are no issues with sexuality or anything like that,” the 32-year-old continues.

“And since then [fellow England cricketer] Steven Davies has come out, so there’re no issues there. It’s just trying to make people be themselves and feel at ease in that environment.”

You can watch a clip from Jimmy Anderson’s appearance on The Clare Balding Show below; and then scroll down to look back at a picture from Jimmy’s Attitude shoot.

The Clare Balding Show airs on BT Sport 1 on Friday (October 17) at 2.30pm and 5.30pm on BT Sport 2, Monday (October 20) at 7pm on BT Sport 2 and Wednesday (October 22) at 9pm on BT Sport 1.