Worrying about tomorrow, tomorrow is the right approach for England's Broad and Anderson

As Tim Southee and Trent Boult ride into town, are England gunslingers Jimmy and Stuart saddling up for a final showdown? England's Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday may be buckling on their gun belts, but Lord's is unlikely to be the OK Corral, as Trent Boult, the left arm John Wesley Hardin of the Kiwi pair, will keep his six-shooter holstered at the end of a tough Indian summer. 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid went out in a blaze of glory. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were on the road together for 22 years, their last road leading to Hong Kong. In fact, they had planned one final 'Road to The Fountain of Youth', but sadly Bing passed away, proving that eternal youth is ultimately beyond us all. And there is the conundrum for England for Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. 

Guile, experience and finely honed craftsmanship are gained over years of practice, but at some point, the body just can't do anymore what the brain thinks it can. The fire in the belly burns bright, but the body's capability dims. That point is getting closer by the day. We are not quite there yet though.  

Brendon McCullum has said England will play their best eleven, and few would argue that Broad and Anderson in tandem are the first-choice attack. They may be creaking a bit and in need of 'management ', but young (and not so young) pretenders are falling by the wayside at an alarming rate. 

England's list of bowling walking wounded includes Archer, Wood, Stone, Robinson, Fisher, Mahmood, Woakes, Curran and Helm. Yet Broad and Anderson, with a combined age of 74 (now pushing 76), not to mention the small matter of 1,177 Test wickets, are irrefutably the best choice right now. 

Young Mathew Potts of Durham will get a chance he might otherwise not have due to England's casualty list, but the older and wiser heads to guide him will be essential. Had Broad and Anderson toured the Caribbean in the winter, most feel that England would not have lost the series and whilst both remain disgruntled about the manner of their omission, they are equally buoyed to be a part of the new McCullum and Stokes era. 

Both may just have been humbled and made more determined by having come eyeball to eyeball with their own Test mortality. 

As we approach the start of the Lord's Test, the demeanour of each may also be coloured by the fortune of their football teams. Broad, bright and breezy, was to be seen last Sunday dancing on the streets of Wembley as his Nottingham Forrest secured their return to the Premier League after 23 years. 

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On the other hand, Jimmy will have felt the pain of Burnley's last day's demise as they passed Nottingham Forest on the way down to the Championship. It's hard to tell with Jimmy, though. Dour is his default setting and should never be confused with a lack of enthusiasm or determination.

Broad needs just five wickets for his one hundred at Lord's, and his pre-match comments suggest he is fully on board with the positive mentality that McCullum and Stokes demand. He has stressed the objective of taking wickets quicker and putting batsmen under constant pressure rather than the more recent trend of 'bowling dry'. As the body may not have quite the spring in its step, he is also more than happy to embrace the twin support of psychology and data. 

The former, however, seems to have reinforced what every England fan has been saying for some time now, that Broad and England should focus on the 'here and now', prioritising the next challenge, rather than thinking about being fit for games down the line. Moreover, he has consistently condemned England's treating everything as Ashes preparation that is not the Ashes itself, and recent history would certainly back him up. As for the latter, it is perhaps no surprise that Broad is a believer in data, given his sister Gemma's previous role as an England team analyst.

Broad's long time compadre Anderson, has already passed the 100-wicket mark at Lord's and has his best ever Test figures at the Home of Cricket, too, taking 7/42 against the West Indies in 2017. It was a double whammy for Jimmy that day as he also claimed his 500th Test wicket, comprehensively castling Kraigg Brathwaite. 

Anderson has, of course, taken more wickets than any other fast bowler in Test cricket, but that should by no means be seen as a signal for Burnley's finest to slow down just yet. He does, however, confess that approaching forty and omission from the West Indies series sowed some seeds of doubt, but, as with Broad, the new McCullum and Stokes broom sweeping through England cricket has brushed those thoughts away. 

Anderson's reaction to splaying of two Root stumps at Old Trafford recently portrayed a man not just righteously vindicated but one who is by no means done with defying the march of time. 

Unlike Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Anderson and Broad know they are not on the 'Road to the Fountain of Youth'. What matters for them and for England is the here and now and the game right before them. Tomorrow can take care of itself.