It’s Jimmy Anderson’s final Test match. Join our team for updates from the first day’s play at Lord’s
His nose scrunched up as he tried to hide back the emotion – how does that not get to you? Special moments here at Lord’s.They are playing it on the big screen as the England players wait at the top of the race in front of the long room, Jimmy half-watching , all eyes on him in the members.
. He was excellent in telling the story of the Anderson from beyond the boundary, the one we don’t know that well despite 20+ years in the public eye.“It’s a privilege to do this one last time.” It’s James Anderson Week at Lord’s, as the all-time great bows out this week after 188 Test Matches and 700-and-something Test wickets. The real privilege is sitting here at the Nursery End, ideally to watch him take the new ball this morning.
Of course, there’s more to this week than Jimmy alone. For starters, the hosts have two men on debut – Jamie Smith behind the stumps and Gus Atkinson to bowl as fast as he can. As Ben Stokes said quite clearly at his press conference yesterday, what we are seeing with his team this year is a transition to prepare for Australia. Sure, they want to win what’s in front of them, but they’re medium-term planning as well.
Those comments have prompted a bit of anger on the world wide web, but I think they’ve gotten this right. The only way to build for a future series is to use the current matches – there’s no clever in-between option. If they want Smith and Atkinson to be battle-hardened Test players by the time India rock up here in 12 months time, and then for the Australian tour that follows, this is the time to put in the groundwork. It isn’t perfect, but selection seldom is. Time will tell.
As for the West Indies, for all the doom and gloom about the direction of travel with their Test cricket, don’t forget they knocked off Australia at the Gabba in stirring style back in February, their most recent start. The man who made that possible was Sharmar Joseph, who snared 7/68 on a magical Brisbane afternoon. We should be so lucky for the visitors, under veteran Kraigg Brathwaite, to perform just as well over the next three weeks.
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