Bowling Great James Anderson hopes youngsters will enjoy the challenge of Test Cricket as he prepares for his final tests against West Indies.
The legendary fast bowler who turns 42 at the end of this month, will be playing the final tests in his career after his best individual bowling figures of this County Championship of 7/35 in the first innings for Lancashire during the match against Nottinghamshire.
Anderson is the leading wicket-taker in Tests and has picked 987 wickets under his name. He picked 700 wickets in 187 tests he played, 269 wickets in 194 ODIs, and 18 wickets in 19 T20Is.
Jimmy needs 13 wickets to become the first seamer and the third bowler to dismiss 1000 wickets across all formats in international cricket.
While speaking about the test cricket Anderson said, “Test cricket is literally the reason that I am the person that I am. It has taught me so many lessons through the years, built my resilience to a lot of things. I think the fulfillment you get from putting in a shift in a day’s cricket is different from anything else you can do in the game.”
📸 Headshots
🥗 Team lunch
✍️ Signing session
🎙️ Final press conferenceTake an exclusive look behind the scenes at Lord’s ahead of Jimmy’s final Test 👇
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 8, 2024
Former Sri Lanka spinner Muttih Muralitharan and Australian spinner Shane Watson are the only bowlers to have dismissed more than 1000 wickets. Muralitharan is the all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs and finished his career with 1347 wickets, while Warner has dismissed 1001 batters.
“I know you can earn a lot of money from bowling four overs, but for me personally, I would never get the same sort of joy or fulfillment from taking wickets that are caught on the boundary compared to really giving a batter a working over and figure someone out,” he said.
“I just hope there are enough kids and young professionals out there who still want that to be the case, rather than going chasing the dollar.” – No choice.
The Veteran bowler who made his test debut in 2003 had announced his retirement after a meeting with Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum, and Rob Key in May. In that meeting, the trio informed Anderson that they planned on picking fast bowlers to feature in the Ashes 2025 in Australia.
“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise because when the three big dogs invited me to a hotel in Manchester for a chat I didn’t think it was just a normal appraisal,” he said. “I had a suspicion that that was going to be the case. I think they were surprised at how calm I was and I was probably surprised at my reaction. I wasn’t overly emotional or angry about it.
“I saw their point of view and appreciated them taking the time to lay it out for me. Since then I’ve come to terms with it and made peace with that decision. I’m just looking forward to one more game and then see what’s ahead.”
After his farewell test, Anderson will start his career as a mentor before deciding if he wants to continue playing FC for Lancashire.
“That’s way too far ahead,” he said. “We’ll just see how these next two months go. I think they want to see if I’m any good at it, whether I fit into what they want from a coaching group, and then I’ll see if I enjoy it.
“Coming off the back of seven-for last week, obviously I feel like I’m still bowling as well as I ever have. If I feel like I can still contribute to Lancashire or they need me, then I’m sure that’s a conversation we’ll have in the next few months,” concluded Anderson. Coming to the tournament, the first test match against West Indies will start on July 10 at Lord’s.
