The 21-year-long career of the legendary James Anderson has finally come to an end. England managed to complete their demolition job over the West Indies in the first Test at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground which also was the final match of Anderson’s long and arduous international career.
The 41-year-old had come up for the presentation ceremony where he was felicitated by the England Cricket Board who handed him a handmade painting of the moment in Dharamsala where he picked up his 700th Test wicket along with a special ice bucket.
READ MORE: James Anderson Bids Adieu to Test Cricket – Full List of Records and Feats by the King of Swing
Former England skipper Michael Atherton was up with the mic as the presenter where he started by asking whether he had been able to hold down his emotions. Anderson revealed that while that may have been a challenge he is still yet to wrap his head around the current feeling he is experiencing.
“Yeah, there have been different emotions down building development. Day one, walking out today with both teams climbed up again was pretty emotional. I forgot what I was trying to do with the ball when I called that first ball. But yeah, it’s been incredible. As I said, the reaction to the crowds was not calm. Quite haven’t wrapped my head around it right now. But yeah, it’s just been an amazing 20 years and I’m so proud of every moment,” said Anderson.
The veteran pacer made sure to acknowledge his family who have been part of his journey and had some key roles to play as Anderson faced immense success in his career spanning just over two decades.
READ MORE: Emotional James Anderson Receives Guard of Honour in Final Test Match at Lord’s – WATCH
“I mean, you can’t have a long career without having support behind you. Every player will say the same. You know, we go on tour for long periods of time and I think we talk a lot in the dressing room about great memories as a team. I think it’s important that it’s the families as well that are great memories, a long place. It’s their journey as well as ours, so to see, as I said, my kid was ringing the bell. Amazing. Something that they’ll not forget. I just hope that they’ve had a good time, as good a time as I have,” he added.
Anderson was queried regarding some of the best memories that he would keep with him as he called time on his career. The pacer looked back and picked out some of the biggest moments that he felt were memorable ones in his playing career.
“I think as I, as I mentioned, like winning, winning series and winning Test matches has been the only thing I’ve been interested in since I came into the team. Winning in Australia, winning in India, becoming the number one side of the world and contributing to, those series as well, taking, taking wickets. I think that they’re the things that I’ll remember forever, play with the grace of the game as well. It’s just been really, really special,” he responded.
While many might have thought that Anderson would miss the stress that comes with fast bowling, the veteran seems to have fallen in love with the entire process.
He said, “You have to have a sadistic side to be a fast bowler. It does hurt. It does hurt. But I think I’ve never really sort of shied away from my responsibilities. I’ve got, I enjoyed it with The Walking off the field after the ball in 2025 hours in a day, feeling sort of feet and legs. That’s just the major of it. Yeah. I mean, as I said, I probably won’t miss not being able to get out of bed and sit on the toilet for a second”.
With regards to his relationship with the longest format, Anderson believes that the emotions that come out in the five-day format along with the various ways you are tested be it in terms of character, discipline etc, will all be things he misses from the format.
“I just think the amount of emotions you go through and again, the ups and downs the Test cricket brings. I think you know when the captain throws you the ball at 6:00 PM and you’ve got the form, you’ve got all the full tilt when you might be slow, you might be hurting, it shows you how much you’ve got inside. It shows a lot about your character things that you might not know that you have and how much you can do. But yeah, also the sort of situations you get in, and managing people, managing, working in partnerships and things like that. They’ve all helped me away from cricket as well,” Anderson explained.
While Anderson might not be playing for England anymore, he will look to thrive in his new role as the mentor of the side and he will be looking to get the best of the younger players.
“Absolutely. I just feel like you, certainly for me, it’s been a while since I’ve played white ball cricket, but I just feel like Test cricket is, is the perfect game. I said, you go, you go on a roller coaster through the match, you know, there’s ups and downs, you’re on the back foot, you’ve got to fight your way back into the game when you’re on top, you’ve got to try and drill advantages home and the satisfaction you get after a win, whether it’s three days, four or five days, you know, there’s just no better feeling than that. And you know, I do feel like I think the white ball cricket and T20 has been amazing for the game and will continue to be. There’s sometimes you might get the rub of the green that helps you win those sorts of games. No amount of luck will help you win Test cricket. You need to be spot-on as a team and perform well all week,” he added.
Speaking on the performance of Gus Atkinson, he was pleased with the performance put in by the 26-year-old and remains optimistic regarding the future of England cricket in the years to come.
“Well, he’s been magnificent. I will say it’s downhill from here after 12 wickets, such a talent. But what an amazing week he’s had. You know, he’s the thing I love about Gus and the stories of, of, about people like that. You know, he went to play during the winter, didn’t play a game, and worked so hard at his game. He worked on his run up and to see the fruits of that this week I’d be sure will help him and give him a lot of confidence going forward. But I think he’s going to be an amazing cricket for England because he’s got all the attributes you need to do well in Test cricket. And I think we’ve got a great group of young bowlers as well coming through. I’m looking forward to working closely with them,” he concluded.
Comments
0 comment