18th Sept 1990-2024 May! Captain Of The England Cricket Team Dies @33 Due To Plane When England begins their three-match series against the West Indies at Lord’s in July, Anderson—who has taken 700 Test wickets, more than any other pace bowler in history—will play his 188th and final Test.
The 41-year-old made the decision to retire after hearing from the England management, which includes Test captain Ben Stokes, director of cricket Rob Key, and head coach Brendon McCullum, that they wanted to focus on the future.
With the news of Anderson’s impending retirement less than a year after his longstanding partner in crime, Stuart Broad, also announced his retirement from Test cricket, England will have lost over 1,300 wickets and 354 matches of experience.
Despite the massive hole, former world no. 1 hitter Labuschagne thinks England has a strong bowling core and has identified four possible Anderson replacements.
Playing in England’s Ashes series last summer, Labuschagne remarked, “I think one thing for English cricket is you’ve got some really quality young bowlers coming through and that’s really exciting.”
The likes of Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, Cookie Sam Cook from Essex, Matthew Potts, and Josh Tongue are examples of good talent, and it will be interesting to watch English bowlers progress in the coming years.
Jimmy has bowled in nearly 200 Test matches, so to have that is very special.’ Reflecting on some of his matches with Anderson, Labuschagne continued, ‘I think the question that’s always on people’s minds is durability and to have the likes of Anderson and Broad just be there, year in year out, bodies always good, getting through Test matches, that’s always the next step.
“You only need to consider how well England managed those circumstances when he traveled to India and how he was able to create opportunities.”
It will be sorry to see Jimmy go because, in my opinion, he has contributed so much to the game, even though over the years he has slowed down a little bit in terms of pace.
“You’re just trying to figure out how to get out when he’s in control.” Over my tenure, we’ve had some exciting matches; the most recent Ashes match at Lord’s was an excellent contest, and we’ve had some exciting county cricket matches.
“A few years ago, at Old Trafford, I believe he got me out.” When Jimmy is on the field, you always perform at a higher level.
In June, Anderson will play two matches for Lancashire, one at Canterbury against Kent and the other at Southport against Nottinghamshire, to prepare for his farewell Test match.
After Anderson’s farewell Test match at Lord’s, England will play two more Tests against the Windies before hosting Sri Lanka for a three-match series later in the summer.
