James "Jimmy" Anderson will end his illustrious career at Lord's this summer - the 1st Test against the West Indies. This will end a career spanning 21 years. He has broken records in the process. He has exceeded far longer than any otther fast bowler can gone before.
He started his international career playing One Day Internationals in 2003. His promise and potential was so big that he had only played five List A (domestic limited overs competition) and hadn't received a county cap. It was against Australia in Melbourne. He bowled six overs and ended with figures of 1/46.
He would later make his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's. He would make a debut five-for in the first innings. In doing so, he became the 42nd Englishman to do. He ended the match with figures of 31 - 8 - 138 - 5 (overs - maidens - runs - wickets). At the end of the Zimbabwe series, he ended with 11 wickets.
In the same summer, against South Africa, his status as a golden boy was damaged. Over the five match series, he took 15 wickets at an average of 39.86. He was punished by Graeme Smith. He took 157 runs at a strike rate of 90.23 off his bowling in the series and was only dismissed once. At the end of the summer, he was named Young Cricketer of the Year; he became the first player to be unanimously voted for the award.
In 2015, against the West Indies, in his 100th Test, he took his 384th Wicket. In doing so, he surpassed Sir Ian Botham's record of 383 wickets. In surpassing "Beefy", Anderson became England's most prolific bowler. In 2018, In the 5th Test against India, he surpassed Glenn McGrath's record of Test wickets (563), when he took his 564th wicket.
In 2016, in the 2nd Test against Pakistan, he achieved the feat of becoming the first fast bowler to take 50 wickets against the other seven Test playing nations: Australia; India; New Zealand; Pakistan; South Africa; Sri Lanka and West Indies.
In December 2019, in the first Test against South Africa, Anderson became the ninth cricketer to play in 150 Test matches. In January 2020, in the second Test against South Africa, Anderson took his 28th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He once again surpassed Sir Ian Botham's record of 27 to become the bowler with the most five-wicket hauls for England in Test cricket. Earlier this year, in the 5th Test against India at Dharamshala, he took his 700th wicket.
He is the only seam bowler to take 300+ Test wickets on home soil. He is the first pace bowler and second player overall to take 100 Test wickets at a single venue (at Lord's); Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 100 wickets at three separate grounds in Sri Lanka. He has the most international Test deliveries bowled by a pace bowler. As of this writing, he's bowled 39 877. The previous holder was West Indian Courtney Walsh, who bowled 30 019 balls. He could well reach 40 000 deliveries.
As of late, his performances haven't been great. In the last 12 months, he has taken only 15 wickets in 8 Test matches.
It was reported that Anderson had his eye on playing all six Tests this summer (against West Indies and Sri Lanka) as well as sticking around for the 2025-26 Ashes. However, talks with Test coach, Brendon McCullum, and Managing Director, Rob Key, made him realise that the team needed to look beyond him this summer with a view to building to that tour of Australia.
It looked as if Anderson would play on forever. I am quite surprised by the retirement coming now. He will finish having played 188 Tests. I would've expected him to become the second player (after Sachin Tendulkar) to play 200 Tests. He is 3rd on the all time Test wicket takers. He's currently behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708). He has the potential to surpass Warne on the list.
I would liken the retirement of Jimmy Anderson to that of the ending of The Undertaker's Wrestlemania undefeated streak. Everyone who followed it believed that it would go on forever. However, in 2014, there was a big shock when there was a big screen reading, "21-1." Just like the ending of the sreak, the announcement of the retirement sent shockwaves among the cricketing world.
It will be a tough transition for England. A player who's been around for over two decades will be leaving. With that, a lot of experience will vanish into thin air. The eternal flame that is of Jimmy Anderson will be extinguished. The void will be hard to refill. This is especially true since Anderson's long time opening bowling partner, Stuart Broad, retired last year. To me, England are entering into the unknown.
His final Test will take place between 10 - 14 July.
Source Material
(Photo): Kroome111. 2023. James Anderson, cricketer for Lancashire & England pictured in 2023. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Anderson_2023.jpg (Accessed: 12 May 2024).