Ahead of the first England-West Indies Test, Ben Stokes shared that he sent an interesting text message to retiring James Anderson after the pacer picked up 7-35 against Nottinghamshire ten days before his last Test.
Anderson: Bowling as well as ever
Anderson, who turns 42 next week, was asked to retire after the Lord’s Test against the West Indies by captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum with England looking to move on from him ahead of the Ashes next year. England’s managing director Rob Key backed the decision, saying it was time to move on from the veteran, who will bow out after playing 188 Tests, the second-most in history.
Over his 21-year-long career, Anderson has picked up exactly 700 Test wickets, the most by a fast bowler, at 26.52. Over the last three years, he got 83 wickets at 25.44, the best among all seamers with at least 80 scalps in this period. Recently, he admitted to being at peace at being asked to walk away from international cricket despite bowling “as well as ever”.
His statement came on the back of a seven-wicket haul for Lancashire in the 2024 County Championship last week in Southport, after which Stokes shot him a message, according to the captain’s revelations on Telegraph Sport. “Did you really have to do that?” was his text to the veteran, who replied with “Yeah, ha, ha sorry mate.”
A statement spell from James Anderson in his first game after announcing his Test retirement.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 2, 2024
Did Rob Key and Brendon McCullum make a mistake in moving him on from the England team?
READ ➡️ https://t.co/qD9IjqneS4#CountyCricket2024 pic.twitter.com/tTNEuL7kH6
Anderson, who had not contemplated retirement until the discussion with the men who matter in the ECB, was hailed by Stokes as an incredible cricketer who would be missed in the England team: “No doubt about that. He is still incredible. His skillset will be missed but I look at it this way, the group of bowlers we have now are at the worst they are going to be because they will only get better. Their ceiling is so high, the more game time we can give them we will find ourselves in a very strong position in Australia.”
Stokes: Hope Anderson takes all 20 wickets in Lord’s
Stokes hoped that Anderson could bow out on a high: “I hope he takes all 20 wickets if I’m being honest. I listened to Stuart [Broad] talk about his retirement and wanting to go out on top and there was one thing he said that even made me think about when the time comes for me to go. He said: ‘I didn’t want a new player to come in and go “I thought Stuart Broad was meant to be good.”’ I thought: ‘Yeah, that is a good thing to think about.’
“Jimmy’s skillset is obviously still good enough for international cricket. But we have to make big decisions and we have got the Ashes to think about in 18 months’ time. Nobody will ever say, ‘Oh, is that Jimmy Anderson? I thought he was meant to be good,’ because he is still incredible.”
Anderson will stay on in the England dressing room even after the Lord’s Test as a team mentor and will decide on his first-class future soon.
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