James Anderson enjoyed a fitting farewell to Test cricket as England routed West Indies by an innings and 114 runs on the third morning of the series opener at Lord’s.
Anderson claimed three second-innings wickets in his 188th and final Test to end up with 704 in his career, third on the all-time list behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708).
The 41-year-old produced a peach of a delivery – angling in, then curling away – to nick off Joshua Da Silva (9) having walked out to a guard of honour from both sets of players before West Indies resumed on 79-6 and trailing by 171 runs.
Anderson had the chance to take the winning wicket – just as Stuart Broad had done when he bowed out from cricket in the final Ashes Test at The Kia Oval last summer – but he dropped West Indies’ Gudakesh Motie in his follow through.
That left the 12-wicket Gus Atkinson to polish things off just over an hour into the day’s play when Jayden Seales holed out at deep midwicket, with West Indies rolled for 136 in 47 overs.
Atkinson is the first England bowler to take a 10-wicket match haul on debut since John Lever in India in 1976 and the first to do so at home since Alec Bedser against India at Lord’s in 1976.
He also bounced out Alzarri Joseph (8) and then bowled Shamar Joseph (3) off stump on the final morning, as he backed up his 7-45 in the first innings with 5-61 in West Indies’ second dig en route to a Player of the Match performance.
Anderson received another guard of honour as he left the field and will now take up a role as bowling mentor for the rest the summer, despite wishing he was not being pushed into retirement as England prepare for the 2025/26 Ashes series in Australia.
England thrash inexperienced West Indies at Lord’s
The bulk of the damage for West Indies was done on day one with Kraigg Brathwaite’s side bundled out for 121 as they were shredded by Atkinson in overcast conditions.
There were occasional bright spots for West Indies in the game – opener Mikyle Louis shaped up nicely on debut and produced a stunning run out, while Seales claimed four wickets.
But the inexperience of the batting line-up means England will be red-hot favourites to wrap up a series win with a match to spare in the second Test at Trent Bridge from Thursday, albeit that they will not have Anderson in their XI.
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Matthew Potts and the uncapped Dillon Pennington were the seamers in the squad omitted at Lord’s so one of them will likely play in Nottingham, perhaps both if England opt to rotate the attack.
Highlights for England at Lord’s included the performances of new boys Atkinson and wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith.
Atkinson bowled with pace, hostility and no little skill, while Smith kept crisply either side of showing his qualities with the bat in a knock of 70 from 119 balls.
The 24-year-old, who displaced Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes as England wicketkeeper, began his innings in measured fashion before accelerating once left batting with the tail.
Ben Stokes’ return to bowling was also a huge boost for England, with the skipper getting through 18 overs in the match having fully recovered from knee surgery.
He bowled eight overs unchanged in West Indies’ first innings and then 10 in a row in the second during a game in which he passed 200 Test wickets, becoming only the third player, after Sir Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis, to marry that achievement with over 6,000 runs.
Anderson’s milestones were the takeaways from the game, though, with the seamer also passing 40,000 balls bowled in a Test career that began in 2003 and is unlikely to be replicated.
Anderson: Playing for England the best job in the world
James Anderson, speaking to Sky Sports:
“It’s been quite an amazing week. I’ve been overwhelmed with the reaction of the crowd and everyone around the ground, and the lads as well. I’m just proud of what I’ve achieved.
“This morning was emotional with the two teams lined up, and the reaction from the crowd was pretty special. I’m still trying to hold (tears) back. I am just really proud.
“Playing for 20-odd years is an incredible effort, especially for a fast bowler, so I’m happy I’ve made it this far and happy I’ve been lucky enough to stay injury-free pretty much throughout my career.
“Playing for England is the best job in the world and I’ve been privileged to do it for a long time.”
Stokes: Anderson an inspiration to so many people
England captain Ben Stokes on James Anderson:
“The amount of games and the amount of wickets he’s taken are just absolutely phenomenal.
“Sometimes you can be lost for words but if you gave me 15 minutes I wouldn’t be able to compliment him enough.
“He has just been an incredible inspiration to so many people. So many young people, I’m sure, have looked up to him and wanted to emulate his career, which I think is going to be very hard to do.”
Hussain: Atkinson has a lot of attributes
Gus Atkinson marked his Test debut with match figures of 12-106, becoming the first England bowler to record a 10-wicket haul since 1976
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Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain on Player of the Match, Gus Atkinson:
“It is only a small sample size on debut but he’s got pace, he’s got accuracy and he’s also got the skill.
“He’s got a lot of the attributes, including hostility towards the end of the innings to go through tailenders.”
Watch day one of the second Test between England and West Indies, from Trent Bridge in Nottingham, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday (first ball to be bowled at 11am).
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