England Test captain Ben Stokes has paid an emotional and touching tribute to retiring teammate James Anderson following the home side's convincing win over West Indies at Lord's.
Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, took a wicket on the third morning as Stokes' side won by an innings and 114 runs.
Anderson made his Test debut in the home of cricket in 2003 when Gus Atkinson was just five years old and has taken 704 scalps during his glittering career, putting him third on the all-time list behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708).
“Jimmy was an incredible inspiration to so many people,” Stokes said.
“So many young people look up to him and want to follow his career, but I'm sure the odds of that happening are very slim.
“The number of games he's played and the number of wickets he's taken is incredible. We're very lucky to have Jimmy in the dressing room.
“The whole story about our young bowlers, Gus, Dylan (Pennington), (Matthew) Potts and all the others who will have the opportunity to come and talk to them in the summer and share their learnings from their careers, is really good for us going forward.
“Sometimes I'm at a loss for words, and even if I gave him 15 minutes, I wouldn't be able to praise him enough.
“He's 41 and he's still always trying to improve himself as a bowler. If you look at how his career has gone, he's getting better and better and that's a testament to his desire to always get better.
“He always wanted to contribute to the team and every time he stepped onto the pitch he did that. He's a great guy to look up to.”
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Anderson looked back on his 21-year career representing England at Test level after his final Test match against West Indies.
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Michael Atherton looks back on Anderson's remarkable career and pays tribute to England's greatest ever bowler after his retirement from Test cricket.
England debutant Atkinson (12-106) became the first bowler to take 10 wickets on debut in 48 years.
The 26-year-old joins the likes of Tom Hartley (vs India, 2024), Josh Tong (vs Australia, 2023), Rehan Ahmed (vs Pakistan, 2023) and Will Jacks (vs Pakistan, 2022) as the latest England players to score five on debut, with Atkinson having been two scalps higher on day one of the Lord's Test.
As praise poured in from pundits and players alike, a picture of a young Atkinson sandwiched between Anderson and Andrew Flintoff in the West Indies in 2007 has resurfaced.
Seventeen years later, Atkinson makes his England debut in the same series that Anderson is finishing.
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Stuart Broad could not believe Anderson had missed a relatively simple catch that could have claimed the final wicket of his Test career.
“It's been an incredible week. I'd like to thank Jimmy. It was incredible to play here in his last Test,” Atkinson said.
“When I was a kid, Jimmy was someone I would come to Lord's Stadium to watch and I would stand in the offside half and watch Jimmy run up to me and it was amazing because I'd seen him on TV so many times.
“The good thing about this group is you can come in and be the player you want to be and that's helped me a lot. To go out there this week and do so well is fantastic.”
Broad: Anderson still looks as good as ever
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Highlights from day 3 of the first Test between England and West Indies
Former England player Stuart Broad believes Anderson is still in perfect form after taking four wickets in his last Test match.
“What I felt watching him this week is that he still looks as good as he used to, and to finish and walk off the field knowing he can still do it is a really good way to do it,” Broad said. Sky Sports.
“It was great to see him still winning and performing at the level he did in 188 Test matches.
“Regardless of the wickets or the number of matches, for Jimmy it's always the moments he spends in the dressing room with the people he's with that make him win a Test match that are most important.
“For him, as a former Test cricketer, looking back now, the games he won were outstanding. To win his last Test match was incredible.”
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Anderson received an emotional salute of honor from players from both teams and led the team to the locker room after the win.
This view is echoed by former West Indies bowler Ian Bishop, who has praised Anderson's impact on world cricket and said it has influenced other seamers as well.
“There are so many things we've already talked about, his longevity and his fitness,” Bishop told Sky Sports.
“He has gone where no fast bowler has gone before in terms of wickets, but from a technical standpoint, the ability to swing the ball and the consistency of length, the art that has evolved over 20 years… I think he has changed the way we think about the game.
“He changed the paradigm and dimension of fast bowlers.
“This is an immortal feeling for James Anderson.”
Watch live coverage of Day 1 of the 2nd Test match between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Sky Sports Cricket Thursdays at 10am (first pitch at 11am)
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