James Anderson bid adieu to the game of cricket at the end of the first Test against the West Indies at Lord’s. It has been a stellar career of over 20 years. Ofcourse, he lost a lot of pace and guile towars the end of his career but still retained the hunger to succeed. However, McCullum wanted to build an attack revolving around genuine pace for Australia and Anderson was forced to step aside. It has been a career where Anderson came away from the shadow of the towering cricketer, Andrew Flintoff and carved a niche for himself. James Anderson the ageless wonder.
James Anderson admitted prior to his final game that he didn’t have much say in the decision and felt that he was still bowling as well as he ever had. To everyone who followed the sequence of events, it was clear that Anderson did not want to retire. Given an option, he would have continued beyond the Ashes of 2025. The question however, was he that effective? The answer was No. Perhaps, in England if the conditions are favourable but apart from that England have a battery of quicks in the form Wood, Stone and Atkinson who are all much quicker than Anderson. They had to be accommodated which meant that Anderson must be shown the door.
Not a great start
He did not have a productive first half of his career. Anderson himself admitted that he struggled to come out of the shadow of Flintoff. Whether it was that or his own inability, the first 20 Tests weren’t that fruitful. Only 62 wickets at 39, he would have easily lost his motivation and confidence. His luck turnaround in 2008. The Wellington Test proved to be a watershed moment in his and England’s graph. For the first time, he paired with Stuart Broad and helped England win the series 2-1. From there, his career graph took a turn for the better. Needless to say, England by then had moved on from Harmison, Hoggard and Flintoff, the heroes of the 2005 Ashes victory.
Anderson wanted to continue
With Broad retiring a couple of years ago, everyone’s attention turned towards Anderson who refused to see the reality. Having said that, with him having retired, perhaps credit must be given where it is due.
“I hadn’t really thought about it just because as I said I felt as fit as I ever have been in India,” Anderson said. “I thought that playing this summer would be achievable. Obviously as a senior bowler you don’t play every Test anyway, you get rested and stuff like that. I thought that was achievable and then think about stuff after that. That’s the way I’ve always approached it.
I thought that Anderson will call it a day once he goes past Shane Warne. He would have wanted an Englishman to overtake the Aussie. With a couple of Tests, he could have managed that but McCullum and Stokes could not afford that. They need to give the new bowlers enough time to prepare for a very tough assignment in Australia.
Anderson leaves the game richer. He now holds the record for the most number of wickets by a non-spinner. Seven hundred four wickets, with 700 coming at the ripe old age of 41, speaks volumes about his perseverance. His fitness was never in question. He remained one of the fittest bowlers around. It is hard to imagine a game Anderson missed because of injury. From time to time, he was rested to keep him fresh for the later games but otherwise, he didn’t miss an entire season of cricket.
Nasser Hussain sums it up
Nasser Hussain, led the accolades in the final Test beautifully. “You were there at our greatest and there at our lowest, so it’s time to thank you. “Now and for ever, you are England cricket.”
The only regret that Anderson will be having is the lack of impact in Australia. An average of over 34 and a strike rate of just over 3 wickets per Test is way below his standards. He got multiple opportunities to correct this anomaly but somehow, he never managed to be at his best in Australia. On the contrary, he will be satisfied with his efforts in India. So much so that, Dhoni identified him to be difference between India and England after England won the series in 2011.
Anderson and abuse
Throughout his career, Anderson had multiple run-ins with the opposition. The most famous being the Michael Clarke episode who wanted to break his f…. arm. Anderson is known to abuse and sledge the opponents who all hated the sight of him. Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain may say that Anderson is one of the nicest bloke outside the field but what is the point in being nice if your on-field behaviour borders on the ugly? He seemed to reserve his best for the Indians who were abused left, right and centre. It was pretty childish of not just Anderson but of the entire cricketing world. Perhaps, he would have been a nicest bloke if he hadn’t done all that.
Kevin Pietersen in his autobiography, though does not blame Anderson directly, did not have anything nice to say about him. It is a pity that someone who has played the game for so long, has to be remembered for these things alongwith his exploits. A Malcolm Marshall is remembered for being the thorough fast bowler. A Michael Holding is remembered for being a destroyer despite his humble demeanour. However, the same cannot be said about Anderson or McGrath or even the late Shane Warne.
Wrapping up James Andreson the ageless wonder
I was undecided whether to call him as wonder given his on-field shenanigans. Finally, I thought let me be kind enough to someone who will never be seen on the cricket field in England shirt again.
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