New Delhi: England Test captain Ben Stokes has revealed he had an awkward conversation over text messages with James Anderson after he was cajoled towards retirement.
Anderson, who would be 42 later this month, will playing his final Test match starting from Wednesday, against West Indies at Lord’s.
He will bow out as the first pacer to have over 700 Test wickets and second after India legend Sachin Tendulkar to have played the most number of Tests.
The right armer initially wanted to continues his Test career for another season but realised his time was up when called for a meeting by the England tem management that had Stokes and Test team coach Brendon McCullum.
In the meeting they said Anderson didn’t fit in their schemes going forward with an aim on the next Ashes series. Anderson took the decision in good spirit and announced in may that the first Test against West Indies would be his last international match for England.
However, he proved he has still got it with a seven-wicket haul in his first English County Championship appearance of the season.
It prompted Stokes to send him a message, saying: “Did you really have to do that?”. Anderson responsed, saying: “Yeah, ha, ha sorry mate.”
“Did you really have to go and do that?”
Ben Stokes’ text to Jimmy Anderson after his 7/35 for Lancashire last week 😅 pic.twitter.com/Pj7p8JFWZE
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 9, 2024
While speaking to the UK-based The Telegraph, Stokes admitted that Anderson remains a top-quality operator.
“No doubt about that. He is still incredible,” Stokes told the British publication.
“However, the decision was influenced by strategic considerations, particularly with the Ashes series in mind.
“His skillset will be missed, but I look at it this way: the group of bowlers we have now are at the worst they are going to be because they will only get better.
“Their ceiling is so high, the more game time we can give them, we will find ourselves in a very strong position in Australia,” he added.
England hope those who are poised to compete for his place are worthy enough to fill his void.
England pacer James Anderson will retire from Test cricket after their first Test against West Indies at Lord’s. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
