Jimmy Anderson started his Test cricket career with a bag of wickets at Lord’s, just as Gus Atkinson did on debut in Anderson’s farewell Test 21 years later.
Jimmy Anderson opened the bowling on day one of his final Test match at Lord’s against the West Indies.
But as the gnarly old quick winds up his mighty England journey this week, he does so in the knowledge that the vital first step in replacing him could barely have been more successful. A Lord’s stage set up for him instead hosted a show stolen by newcomer Gus Atkinson. Bowling first change to follow Anderson away from the pavilion, the Surrey bowler sent down the fastest first over from an England bowler since that data has been kept. It was not hair-raising compared to Mark Wood at his most frightening, but it demonstrated his readiness.
Two more wickets in the next over gave the new bloke the ridiculous analysis of 7-37, and with three cracks at the number 11, a chance to better the finest ever figures on Test debut, Albert Trott’s 8-43 in 1895. In so many ways, he belongs to an earlier generation. But he combined longevity with a thirst for knowledge – see the way his bowling average plummeted after mastering the wobble-seam delivery. This attribute is what makes all the tributes worthy, the farewell Test most fitting.Getty Images
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