Jimmy Jimmy: bowling icon marks run-up for final Test

The seamer will sprint onto the pitch at Lord's 21 years after his debut but, asks Sonia Twigg, should he really be retiring?

- Sonia Twigg

There will never be another James Anderson. Such statements are made all the time when a great from the game retires but, in this case, it will never be more true.

Anderson made his England debut in 2002, a year before the first domestic T20 matches and there were no concerns surrounding the future of Test cricket. It is inconceivable that another fast bowler will be able to play 188 matches in the game’s longest format, never mind take 700 wickets.

On that front, Anderson stands head and shoulders above the other seam bowlers. Stuart Broad is the closest with 604 wickets, and only two spinners, Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) have more.

England made the decision to move on from Anderson, 41, before the start of the Test summer, but he will have time for a final match, a 188th Test cap, and a farewell.

“Test cricket is literally the reason I am the person that I am,” Anderson said, speaking from Lord’s. “It has taught me so many lessons through the years, built my resilience to a lot of things.

“I think the fulfilment you get from putting in a shift in a day’s cricket is different to anything else you can do in the game. I know you can earn a lot of money from bowling four overs [in T20 cricket] but for me personally, I would never get the same sort of joy or fulfilment from taking wickets that are caught on the boundary as from trying to really give a batter a workingover and figure someone out.