Ben Stokes and James Anderson. (Photo Source: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
England Test captain Ben Stokes backed James Anderson to pick all 20 wickets in his farewell Test at Lord’s against West Indies, starting July 10. The legendary pace bowler is on the verge of history as he has a remarkable opportunity to overtake Shane Warne and become the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history.
The celebrated spinner from Australia has 708 dismissals to his name while Anderson has 700 at the moment. He needs nine wickets to get past Warne and the England skipper is backing him to create history. Meanwhile, Stokes also noted that the 41-year-old is still good enough to play Test cricket, but the team management decided to build a team keeping Ashes 2025, thereby enforcing Anderson to take a retirement call.
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“I hope he takes all 20 wickets if I’m being honest. I listened to Stuart (Broad) talk about his retirement and wanting to go out on top and there was one thing he said that even made me think about when the time comes for me to go. He said: ‘I didn’t want a new player to come in and go I thought Stuart Broad was meant to be good. I thought: ‘Yeah, that is a good thing to think about,” Stokes said while talking to The Telegraph.
“Jimmy’s skillset is obviously still good enough for international cricket. But we have to make big decisions and we have got the Ashes to think about in 18 months’ time. Nobody will ever say, ‘Oh is that Jimmy Anderson? I thought he was meant to be good’ because he is still incredible,” he added.
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Anderson had a rough time in Ashes 2023 when he managed to pick only five wickets in four matches at an average of 85.40. That played a massive role in the team management’s decision to look for new talents. The 41-year-old meanwhile hasn’t confirmed his availability for Lancashire in County, as he also has an offer from ECB for a mentor role in the senior men’s side.