nude cricketers gay Cricket superstar Jimmy Anderson

In this Issue Cricket superstar Jimmy Anderson bowls a curve ball at the Nation’s most conservative sport Paul O’ Grady on the long awaited return of Lily revolutionary writer Christopher Isherwood discusses the lovesex we ask is X Factor the gayest thing to happen to Saturday night television? 50 things that are so bad they’re good and How Gay Is KT Tunstell?

Cricket star Jimmy Anderson stands nude against homophobia

English cricketer James Michael “Jimmy” Anderson has posed nude for the October 2010 issue of Attitude, the United Kingdom’s best selling gay magazine. The married sportsman urged players to come out of the closet and told AFP:

“‘There’s a perception of lots of committees and old men being quite prim and proper, but I think the game is moving with the times,’ he said. ‘From my point of view, I think doing this could be fantastic for cricket. Hopefully this will attract a new sort of fan.’

Usually the only nudes in cricket are pitch invaders who ‘streak’ across the wicket, and Anderson admitted he will probably get ‘some stick’ for taking part in the shoot by fashion photographer Ram Shergill. [But] insisted he was “more than prepared” to shed his clothes. He added: ‘If there are any gay cricketers, they should feel confident enough to come out, because I don’t think there is homophobia in cricket. Football fans can be quite abusive and quite harsh, and cricket fans can be like that sometimes, but they are generally quite placid and there to watch the game and support their team.’

Asked how he would react if a cricketer came out, he said: ‘I’d throw them a special gay cricket tea.’”

Mr. Anderson is the sixth sportsman to have made the front cover of Attitude since 1994, following Vinnie Jones, David Beckham, Ben Cohen, Freddie Ljungberg and Gareth Thomas. The October issue goes on sale 21 September 2010.

This isn’t the first time that the athlete has shed his garments to make a point. In 2008, he posed with nothing else but a cricket bat and fellow English cricketers, Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook, for the Everyman Campaign, to raise male cancer awareness in Cosmopolitan magazine in the name of charity.

Naked Lancashire cricketer James Anderson in Attitude

Lancashire paceman James Anderson has become the first cricketer to appear naked in Britain’s biggest-selling gay magazine.

The 28-year-old married bowler appears on the front cover and in a naked shot inside the latest edition of Attitude.

He said he believed there was no homophobia in cricket and gay players should feel comfortable coming out.

The magazine said that it hoped the photos would signal that cricketers could be comfortable with gay fans.

‘Feel confident’

Mr Anderson said: “There’s a perception of lots of committees and old men being quite prim and proper, but I think the game is moving with the times.

“If there are any gay cricketers they should feel confident enough to come out because I don’t think there is any homophobia in cricket.”

His comments drew criticism from Manchester-based John Amaechi, the first NBA basketball star to speak publicly about being gay.

Mr Amaechi said: “He himself has suggested that he’s going to get stick for doing this cover.

“Would he get stick for it if it was GQ? Or would that be a different kind of stick?”

Last updated by MOHAMMAD IMRAN KHAN at October 9, 2012.