West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales told the media that the team had planned to give retiring England pacer James Anderson a guard of honour during the first Test between the sides at Lord's, but the gesture did not materialise for a rather unique and humorous reason.
Anderson had announced in May that the first Test of the series between West Indies and England at Lord's would be his final one, bringing the curtain down on a 21-year long international career. He will retire as the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers in Test history.
Ahead of the match, which began on July 10, his daughters Lola and Ruby were given the honour of ringing the Lord's bell to signal the start of play. Anderson was also given a standing ovation by the crowd as he led England onto the field, before bowling the first over of the match.
The match itself moved quickly as debutant Gus Atkinson took 7-45 to help bowl the visitors out for just 121, and England began their innings on Day 1. They had built up a lead of 246 towards the end of the second session before Shoaib Bashir was run out for a 17-ball duck by West Indian debutant Mikyle Louis, with a bullet throw. The wicket put England nine down, bringing last man Anderson in.
Seales: We spoke about a guard of honour before Anderson came out to bat
The veteran was not given a guard of honour by the West Indies, which raised a few eyebrows as it is a common practice in international cricket to do so when a player's retirement is known. But fast bowler Jayden Seales opened up on why it did not happen, in the post-match press conference.
"We spoke about it before he came out to bat, that we were going to give him a guard of honour. And then, obviously the run-out took us all the way to a Swiss cottage, like you said. So we wanted to have a guard of honour for the great man but yeah, [it didn't happen]."
"If anything, Smith's level-headed early caution was more instructive than the ball-striking that came later on."
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 11, 2024
Rob Key’s assessment that Smith is a “rare talent” looks a fair one, writes @Yas_Wisden.#ENGvWI https://t.co/b8LBtqb0PU
The run-out of Bashir by Louis had sparked wild celebrations among the West Indians, as the fielder had thrown down the stumps with very little to aim at, from near-on 40 yards. Louis led the celebrations by sprinting all the way past the boundary rope to find his brother Jeremiah, with the entire team in tow.
By the time they had finished, and got back onto the field of play, Anderson had already made his way out to the middle, thereby making it too late for a guard of honour to happen as he entered the ground.
At the end of Day 2, England had built up a lead of 250 before reducing West Indies to 79-6 and closing in on an innings victory.
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