Ben Stokes and James Anderson of England walk back into the pavilion after a team photo at Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 09, 2024 in London, England.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

It doesn’t matter if James Anderson takes a bunch of West Indies wickets for England in the first test at Lord’s from Wednesday.

The series opener will be Anderson’s 188th and last test and he will transition into England’s fast-bowling mentor.

He was pensioned off by England managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. They met him at a Manchester hotel in April to say he wasn’t in their plans for the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia.

This was a month after Anderson returned from India, where he took 10 wickets at an average of 33.50. That series was lost 4-1 but on the last morning of the last test in Dharamsala, Anderson became the first seamer in history to take 700 wickets.

He spoke then of being in the best shape, liking where his game was at, and being really excited for this summer, when he will turn 42 at the end of this month.

This week, he said he was surprised at how calmly he took the news from Key, McCullum and Stokes. He understood their decision, adding, “I’ve sort of made peace with that.”

Anderson warmed up for his last test by showing his class last week in his first English County appearance for Lancashire. He took 7-35, the best figures in the championship.

His 21-year test career comes full circle at Lord’s, where he made his test debut in 2003 against Zimbabwe. Lord’s witnessed Anderson’s career-best figures of 7-42 against the West Indies in 2017.

As one era ends, others could start. Surrey seamer Gus Atkinson and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith have been handed test debuts. Both played white-ball cricket for England last year; Atkinson went to the ODI World Cup. Smith replaces Jonny Bairstow, who’s been dropped after 100 tests.

Spinner Jack Leach has also made way for Shoaib Bashir to make his home test debut after taking 17 wickets in India. Chris Woakes returns for his first test since he was the player of the Ashes series last summer.

“There’ll be some decisions I’m sure people might not understand or might be frustrated by and that’s something that I’m absolutely fine with and completely understand,” Stokes said on Tuesday.

“I don’t want to say I’m stubborn, but one thing I’m very clear on is that I know that these decisions are best for the team, from my point of view. Look at where we’ve got to go in 18 months’ time, to Australia. We want to win that urn back.”

The West Indies plays its first test since the extraordinary eight-run victory over Australia in Brisbane in January, after a 10-wicket thrashing in Adelaide.

Allrounder and former captain Jason Holder was recalled along with fellow fast bowler Jayden Seales. Opening batter Mikyle Louis will become the first man from St. Kitts and Nevis to play a test.

In the absence of the injured Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph will lead the pace attack with Seales and Shamar Joseph, whose 7-68 scuttled the Australians in Brisbane in the second innings. That earned Shamar Joseph in his second test the player of the match and short series.

Shamar Joseph called England retiree Anderson “perfect” as a test player to the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper but “I want to rain on his parade.”

Anderson said he was trying hard not to think of his pending forced retirement.

“The big thing for me this week is wanting to play well, bowl well and get a win,” he said. “I’m sure the emotions during the week will change, but right now that’s what I’m trying to focus on to stop myself crying.”

Lineups:

England: ⁠Zak Crawley,⁠ ⁠Ben Duckett, ⁠Ollie Pope, ⁠Joe Root, ⁠Harry Brook,⁠ ⁠Ben Stokes (captain), ⁠Jamie Smith, ⁠Chris Woakes, ⁠Gus Atkinson, ⁠Shoaib Bashir, ⁠James Anderson.

West Indies Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales.

England’s James Anderson (left) and Stuart Broad pose for a photo. File
| Photo Credit: AP

England pace legend Stuart Broad said England’s inexperienced bowling attack may have challenges after star fast bowler James Anderson’s retirement would create a “huge hole”.

England’s veteran pacer Anderson announced his decision to retire from Tests with the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s in July. Anderson, the highest wicket-taker among pace bowlers in Test cricket, will play his final red-ball game for England in July.

Anderson has stated that the series opener against the West Indies at Lord’s on July 10-14 will be his 188th and last Test match for England after a career spanning over two decades.

Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Gus Atkinson are all potential alternatives, but Broad is concerned about Ben Stokes’ bowling options moving ahead.

While Broad believes the future may be a baptism of fire for England bowlers, he does acknowledge that talent is present and waiting for opportunities.

“I think exposure for some bowlers now is really important, because there’s talent out there. You’ve got the likes of Matthew Potts who has done well in Test cricket and on a Lions tour, Gus Atkinson has loads of great attributes, Josh Tongue who struggled a bit with injuries over the winter but bowled great against Ireland and Australia,” Broad said as quoted by Sky Sports.

“Brydon Carse up at Durham has shown some good potential and has attributes to play Test match cricket – quick, tall and can certainly bat as well. Jamie Overton has struggled with injuries but shown promise as well,” he added.

“England could easily go into a Test match this summer with a very, very inexperienced bowling group. If you don’t play a (Chris) Woakes, Mark Wood has a rest and there’s no Jimmy Anderson, you could have three seamers and a spinner out there potentially with 20 caps between them. That’s quite scary as a Test captain I would have thought. We don’t know how much (Ben) Stokes’ going to bowl — we hope he does,” he added.

At 41, Anderson has played Test cricket for over two decades to become one of the greatest bowlers the format has seen. He made his Test debut at Lord’s in 2003 and has taken 700 wickets in 187 Tests.

Having neither of the two available to lead the line with the red ball in the future might cause issues, and Broad reaffirmed his concern about the void Anderson’s departure will create.

“There’s going to certainly be a huge hole left by Jimmy Anderson that someone is going to have to step into. And not just by swinging the new ball. But by communicating, by keeping calm if the boundaries are leaking, by tactically being aware of what field works at certain grounds, pitches and times of Test matches. Ultimately, you don’t learn that unless you’re thrown in,” he added. Broad describes his major trait as the desire to grow and adapt his own game.

“My thing was always continuous improvement. Jimmy’s has always been that as well, and we drove each other forward a lot with that mindset. Working on different things in the nets, run-ups – I think Jimmy worked on a new run-up at 41 – I certainly changed mine in 2019 and I was 33/34. We always had that mindset you had to keep improving,” he added.

“That was probably why he played that much. If we didn’t have that mindset, we might have played 20 Tests and then been found out,” he added. England host West Indies in a three-match ICC World Test Championship series in July, starting with the first Test at Lord’s.