James Anderson retires from Test cricket? To quote John McEnroe's famous line, “You can't be serious!”
For almost 21 years, the world's greatest aficionado of right-handed swing bowling has traveled to different parts of the world every hour and season. He has seen the rise and fall of many people, some who break through in a blaze of glory, some who fade away quickly, and some who remain with him for a long time, but it is his great ally. None other than Stuart Broad.
Somehow it felt like James Anderson cracked the time code. That only he knew how to make it still. As the years passed, his skill, energy, enthusiasm and stamina – his love for Test cricket – remained largely undiminished.
Just a few months ago, he became the first paceman to reach the 700-wicket mark in Test cricket. Take a deep breath and let it sink in. 700. Only two spin sensations Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have been there so far. It is safe to say that it will take a long time for anyone else to achieve this figure, be it a pacer or a spinner. When he continued his tryst with history in Dharamsala in March, you were sure he would continue for many years to come. Like the energizer bunny.
Yet here we are today, hours after announcing on Instagram that England's first home Test of the summer, against the West Indies at Lord's, would be his international signature song in July. , looking back on his most illustrious career. It has great symmetry. It was at the same venue that Anderson honed his Test cricket skills at the age of 20, picking up five wickets in a match that Zimbabwe lost by an innings.
The Lancastrian may have been tempted to bow out at his beloved Old Trafford, which will host the first of three Tests against Sri Lanka at the end of August. Perhaps his historical perspective led him to decide that Lord's should be held in July, and he was tipped in that direction by head coach Brendon McCullum, who recently traveled to England from New Zealand to discuss his future with Anderson. It may have been prompted by. Maybe Anderson didn't want a long breakup, and just wanted it to end. Whatever the reason, English cricket, indeed Test cricket, will be even poorer in his absence.
Anderson has kept the ball on the string throughout his career. Even waking him from a deep slumber, he hits a perfect length spot on the right-handed bowler on or just outside the off-stump, and uses it to catch the outside edge on his way to the wicketkeeper. I was able to delay it. Or a cordon. He enjoyed bowling with the Duke's ball used in home Tests in England, but over time he became accustomed to the Kingfisher, which dominates the landscape almost everywhere except India. In India, I was able to master the subtle nuances of reverses thanks to the SG Test ball. Swing too.
Like all great performers, Anderson was more than adequate away from home, but unsurprisingly his best performances came on English soil. More than a decade of association with the white-ball international came to a complete halt after England failed to reach the quarter-finals and suffered a devastating defeat in the 2015 50-over World Cup at the Antipodes. A complete overhaul of mindset and personnel left Anderson and Broad on the fringes of the limited-overs format, thereby extending their careers as they focused on taunting batsmen collectively and individually with the red ball.
Anderson has evolved from a young tyro who rose to prominence in the early 2000s to an exceptional all-weather bowler who is keen to keep adding new tricks to his repertoire. His scrambling seams, which he used to devastating effect in the final quarter of his career, were the ultimate example of an old dog ready and willing to learn new tricks.
The present is already Anderson's idolatry. History would take his command of his craft to a whole new level. McCullum's desire to move on from Anderson, 42, after two-and-a-half months is understandable, but it remains to be seen how England will fill the gaping hole his absence will undoubtedly create. He took just 10 wickets in four Tests in the recent tour to India, but he was the fast bowler who needed to be watched most closely. His supreme fitness – his fielding would put men half his age to shame – spoke to his pride in performance. He did not want to survive relying on his past glory.
Now the cricketing gods come together to concoct a fairytale farewell to the eternal wonder.
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