Sir Anderson: England great retires from Tests on a high

LONDON, July 12

England’s James Anderson brought down the curtain on his stellar international career by taking a wicket against West Indies on the third day of the first Test at Lord’s today as he helped his side wrap up a comfortable win by an innings and 114 runs.

Anderson looked uncharacteristically emotional before the start of play as he walked out to a guard of honour and a standing ovation from the crowd in his 188th and final Test.

But the seamer quickly got to work and had Joshua Da Silva (9) caught behind in his second over of the day, finding just enough movement to draw the outside edge and pick up his 704th Test wicket to finish with match figures of 4/58.

The 41-year-old retires with a record number of Test wickets by an England bowler and the most by any seam bowler. He is third on the all-time list for Test wickets behind Australian Shane Warne (708) and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800).

Anderson, clutching a pint of Guinness in the dressing room, said he was still trying to hold back tears at the end of his final match.

“This morning was quite emotional with the two teams lined up and the reaction from the crowd was pretty special,” he said. “Playing for England is the best job in the world. I’ve been privileged to do it for a long time.”

England captain Ben Stokes said the match was a near-perfect start to the summer, particularly with debutants Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith turning in impressive performances.

“We dominated the game,” Stokes said. “But we had to work really hard for that. We went through periods where we had to make things happen. So we are very pleased.”

Brief scores: West Indies: 121 (Atkinson 7/45) and 136 (Atkinson 5/61, Anderson 3/32); England: 371 (Crawley 76, Smith 70, Root 68, Pope 57, Brook 50; Seales 4/77). — Reuters

Career highlights

Debut for Lancashire in 2001

Test debut in 2003 at Lord’s, takes 5 wickets in 1st innings

Finishes 2010-11 Ashes with series-leading 24 wickets as England win first time in Australia in 24 years

Wins T20 World Cup in 2010

Takes 500th Test wicket in 2017 at Lord’s

Claims 1,000th First-Class wicket while playing for Lancashire in 2021

Takes 700th Test wicket against India in March 2024

Finishes career with 188 Test caps, second only to Sachin Tendulkar (200)