James Anderson retired from red-ball cricket during the first Test between England and West Indies which the home side won by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Friday.
Anderson picked four wickets in his final Test and walked off the field for the last time as he was applauded by the crowd as well as the English and West Indies teams.
The legendary pacer retired with 704 wickets (most by any seamer in red-ball) to his name, the third most after Shane Warne (708 wickets) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets).
Tributes poured in from cricketers all over the world as Anderson walked back to the dressing room after gracing the field for the last time.
Pakistan’s white-ball skipper Babar Azam, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and others paid their tributes to the 41-year-old.
The legendary pacer thanked the Lord’s crowd for getting the memorable farewell before saying that he is proud of his achievements.
“It’s been an amazing week, been overwhelmed with the reaction of the crowd and everyone around the ground,” Anderson told Sky Sports. “I’m just proud of what I’ve achieved.”
When asked about his future plans, the 41-year-old confirmed that he will stay with the team through the summer to help the young pacers as England continue to increase their position in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table.
“I’m going to stick around for the rest of the summer with these guys, trying to help around with the bowling as much as I can. We’ll see where life takes me after that, I haven’t thought that far ahead,” Anderson said.
- James Anderson
