James Anderson. (Source – Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Legendary England pacer James Anderson called his time in international cricket after the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s. He has been one of the greatest ever Test cricketers in history and even on his swansong, the pacer picked up four wickets, which includes three in his final innings. England eventually defeated West Indies by an innings and 114 runs as Anderson bid goodbye to international cricket with a monumental win.
After the game, the 41-year-old opened up on his career and stated it was a privilege for him to represent England for over two decades. He revealed that the morning of Day 3 was tough, especially during the guard of honour that was given by the players of both teams as the fans in attendance also gave him a standing ovation.
Anderson added that he was lucky to play cricket for such long as being injury-free and mentioned that he was proud to play for such long despite being a fast bowler.
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“Obviously this morning was quite emotional with two teams lined-up and the reaction from the crowd was pretty special. I’m still trying to hold ’em back now, but I think I’m just very proud of playing for 20-odd years is an incredible effort, especially for a fast bowler. So, I’m just happy that I made it this far and happy that I have been lucky enough to stay injury-free pretty much throughout my career and playing for England is the best job in the world and I have been privileged to be able to do it for a long time,” Anderson stated in the post-match presentation.
Still gutted that I dropped that catch to be honest: Anderson
Anderson dropped an easy catch of his bowling, which could have been a fairytale end of his career. Speaking about that after the match, Anderson stated that he was gutted but was proud of what he achieved in his career.
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“I’m still gutted that I dropped that catch to be honest, but it’s been an amazing week and I have been quite overwhelmed with the reaction of the crowd and the everyone around the ground and the lads as well. Just proud of what we have achieved,” Anderson said.