![James Anderson necks a pint of Guinness on the Lord's balcony](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cricket/2024/07/12/TELEMMGLPICT000385354371_17207959839580_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqeK8ehqBZJSTiVTgumtathf4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Watch: James Anderson downs pint on Lord’s balcony in England farewell
Anderson ends Test career with 704 wickets at an average of 26.5 before hailing five-day cricket as best format of game
![James Anderson necks a pint of Guinness on the Lord's balcony](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cricket/2024/07/12/TELEMMGLPICT000385354371_17207959839580_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqeK8ehqBZJSTiVTgumtathf4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpeg?imwidth=680)
James Anderson bid farewell to the “perfect game” as an emotional Lord’s crowd delighted in watching him down a pint of Guinness on the home balcony.
Anderson was joined by his current team-mates and former players, including Sir Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad, in the home dressing room to toast his extraordinary career. He took 3-32 against West Indies as England wrapped up a crushing innings-and-114-run victory but missed a simple caught-and-bowled chance to take a fourth wicket and wrap up the game.
Anderson ended his Test career with 704 wickets at an average of 26.5. He then hailed Test cricket as the best form of the game.
“You just can’t compete with [it],” Anderson said. “I just think Test cricket is incredible for that sort of drama.”
Anderson declared that the mental and physical toil of the five-day game, and the variety of challenges, makes the format unique.
“I love the thought of having to get an ice bath after a long day in the field. I love when the ball swings and the captains are like, ‘it’s swinging so you’re on’. I love those sorts of things and that’s what I’ll miss.
“I’ve worked really hard at trying to get the skills to perform for a long period of time. I’ve worked hard at my fitness to be able to perform for a long period of time.
“You can’t be unfit and play Test cricket. You can’t be just a one-dimensional bowler and play Test cricket. You’ve got to have so many different facets and I think that’s the exciting thing about it.”
Anderson said that the challenge of playing Test cricket was “a rollercoaster” for players.
“Being able to control those emotions and actually embrace those emotions at times, going to bed not being able to sleep because you’re worried about the next day or you’ve had a bad day and you’re thinking is it going to be the same tomorrow? Being able to control those and deal with those actually makes you find a lot out about yourself and what those emotions actually are. And then have to perform at a high level, being under that pressure.
“I guess it’s like life really. You have ups and downs.”
Anderson said that he was overwhelmed to see the impact of his career, and expressed his hopes that he had inspired younger generations to play the game.
“I’d love to think that someone took up the art of bowling because they’ve watched me bowl, or whether it’s their parents that have forced them into it because they’ve seen me bowl.
“I’ve been amazed at how many kids were here, even the walk into the ground, the kids here and the older folk as well.
“I think that’s really special. And that’s probably our job as cricketers as well. You’re not just a cricketer trying to win games of cricket, you’re trying to be a role model as well. When I was growing up, I was looking up to players to try and imitate them or copy them, be like them, and I love the thought that kids are still doing that because of me.”
Anderson will stay with England as a bowling mentor, working with the team for the rest of the summer. He will be with the squad in Nottingham for the second Test, which begins on Thursday.
“I’m really excited,” he said. “I think we’re in a really good place, actually, with the bowlers that we’ve got.
“It’s been my job for probably five or 10 years even, to try and help people feel comfortable in Test cricket, whether it’s out on the field or whether it’s in the dressing room. There have been games where I’ve not played where I’ve still tried to help out guys that are playing. So I feel like there’s not much difference for me in that role.
“I’ve studied the game for 20 years and I think I’ve got good knowledge of the technical side of it as well, and I feel like I can have a real impact on the guys. I’m definitely not going to be someone to tell people how to bowl. I’ll be a sounding board, I’ll be there if they need me. I’ll watch every ball that they bowl and try and help them as much as I can.”
Anderson’s contract is initially for the rest of the series against West Indies and the three Tests against Sri Lanka. “We’ll see how it goes and then we’ll chat,” Anderson said. “I might be c---, they might not want me there, I might not enjoy it.”
England’s captain, Ben Stokes, immediately declared that he “definitely” hopes that Anderson will be bowling coach for the 2025-26 Ashes.
“That is why we have asked him to stay around,” he said. “He’s going to be with us for the rest of the summer, but it’s up to him if it’s something he wants to do. If he’s got the desire to help bowlers progress like he did with his own career, I just can’t think of a better person to influence all the fast bowlers.”