It was a slow game of the day at Lord’s, an afternoon spent with hands behind head and feet on the chairs in front of them. The match had been heading in a predictable direction ever since West Indies failed to bat on Wednesday morning and midway through the second day the MCC staff were already worrying whether an announcement about refunds should be prepared on the third day. No one else on the ground seemed too worried. The sun was out and the stands were buzzing with chatter about shoes, boats, sealing wax, facts and statistics about Jimmy Anderson.
These have become a genre of their own, like those old Chuck Norris jokes. As it turns out, Anderson’s deliveries accounted for less than 4% of all deliveries bowled by England in Test cricket, and just over 4% of all England’s wickets taken. If you add up the yards he covered on his way to the bowl, the total is equivalent to the distance from Lord’s to Berwick-upon-Tweed Cricket Ground. He bowled more balls in Test cricket than 34 of the 40 English fast bowlers who made their debuts after him combined. He bowled more maidens than all but 30 of the 492 other men to bowl for England.
Anderson played alongside a record 109 England players in total. The latest, and last, was Jamie Smith, the young Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman who was waiting in the middle when Anderson batted for the final time in Test cricket. Smith shot 66, having just hit an almighty six in the Tavern Stand. Smith was born just a few months after Anderson made his debut in Group A cricket. He is 23 years old and came to England via Whitgift School, Sutton CC, Surrey and the England age group. On Thursday, he played Test cricket with his natural talent for cricket.
Smith is quick on his feet, tidy on defense and has a powerful bat on offense. In this game he found himself in the awkward position of being selected ahead of his friend and county team-mate Ben Foakes. Everyone agrees that Fox is a better goaltender, but the reason he was waived is because he needs to do a better job when hitting the ball with his tail. That’s exactly what Smith did. He slowly put up 97 goals in his first 50 games, then only scored 23 in his final 20 games. With a satisfied expression, like a person whose judgment has been proven correct again.
Even though Smith was playing well, he still found himself in the unusual position of being booed by the team’s own fans, who accused him of refusing to give Anderson a hit after the at-bat. Anderson’s batting has always been the happiest thing in his cricket and over the years he has been a red-blooded night watchman, proudly holding the record for most innings in English Test matches without once for a duck And was fired. Don’t forget, he teamed up with Monty Panesar to defeat Australia in Cardiff in 2009 and with Joe Root against India at Trent Bridge in 2014 ) together set a world record of 198 goals.
He also occasionally plays cover, which has earned him the nickname “Burnley Laura”, and, oddly enough, is one of the best reverse sweep players in the game. Unfortunately, the smug young Smith didn’t seem to believe he could do it and refused to take the one-out hit that would have given him a strike. Instead, Smith fell for straight leg for four and then was caught on the boundary while trying to do it again. So Anderson turned around and walked off the field, taking off his pads. He had no need to face his final innings, finishing unbeaten for a total of 1,353 runs at an average of 8.96.
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Anderson stopped before getting off, patted Smith on the back and asked him to lead the way over the boundary rope. His farewell Test is turning into a game that will ultimately be better remembered for the debuts of Smith and Gus Atkinson, which seems oddly fitting for such a humble man way to complete his Test cricket.
