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“It’s a privilege to do this one last time.” It’s James Anderson Week at Lord’s, as the all-time great bows out this week after 188 Test Matches and 700-and-something Test wickets. The real privilege is sitting here at the Nursery End, ideally to watch him take the new ball this morning. That’s what either captain will surely do if the coin falls their way for it is muggy out there. But after days of rain, it is meant to stay away.
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Of course, there’s more to this week than Jimmy alone. For starters, the hosts have two men on debut – Jamie Smith behind the stumps and Gus Atkinson to bowl as fast as he can. As Ben Stokes said quite clearly at his press conference yesterday, what we are seeing with his team this year is a transition to prepare for Australia. Sure, they want to win what’s in front of them, but they’re medium-term planning as well.
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Those comments have prompted a bit of anger on the world wide web, but I think they’ve gotten this right. The only way to build for a future series is to use the current matches – there’s no clever in-between option. If they want Smith and Atkinson (and Pennington and Potts) to be battle-hardened Test players by the time India rock up here in 12 months time, and then for the Australian tour that follows, this is the time to put in the groundwork. It isn’t perfect, but selection seldom is. Time will tell.
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As for the West Indies, for all the doom and gloom about the direction of travel with their Test cricket, don’t forget they knocked off Australia at the Gabba in stirring style back in February, their most recent start. The man who made that possible was Sharmar Joseph, who snared 7/68 on a magical Brisbane afternoon. We should be so lucky for the visitors, under veteran Kraigg Brathwaite, to perform just as well over the next three weeks. I’ll run through their team in a bit more detail as we go.
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Right, let’s leave it there for the time being. As always, you can reach me via email or on the artist formerly known as twitter. We are about 15 minutes away from the toss.
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Welcome to Lord’s – the home of cricket 😍🏡
📍@HomeOfCricket pic.twitter.com/mlErefntIA
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2024
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Important Events
Jimmy’s daughters ring the bell together. He pinched his nose to hide his emotions. How could he not like that? A special moment at Rose.
Another montage, this time of the ECB, voiced by Nasser. As the England players wait at the head of the race in the long room, they’re playing it on the big screen, and Jimmy is half-watching (but paying attention) and all eyes are on him.
Once that is complete, players will line up for the national anthem.
“(Unbelievably) boring.” Rob Little says: “Someone on Twitter last night pointed out that St Kitts-born Joey Benjamin has played for England. Does this mean that Mickael Lewis will be the first St Kitts-born player to play a Test match for the West Indies?”
It was a good pick up!
Jamie Smith currently stars in Sky’s The Others. He’s a very mature, careful lad who will pick up the gloves and get the job done straight away. Asked about wicketkeeping, he said: “I’ve worked a lot with Ben Foakes and Alec Stewart so when the opportunity came up to play keeper for Surrey it was always something I had in mind.”
As mentioned at the beginning, Smith, who wears number 7, perfection Ideally, there would be a spot open in the top six for a batsman who is clearly ready to take the next step. If not, this is the man for the job. It’s important to stress that he is not a part-time player; he has been a grounder in a third of the first-class games he has played so far, and has also been a grounder in the vast majority of games bowled with the white ball.
I love openers on a day like today. Here’s a beautiful piece from Sky Cricket.
Jimmy’s final test.
Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket will be showing live coverage from Lord’s Arena from 10.15am 🌟📺 pic.twitter.com/GDZR2bTjOO
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 10, 2024
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“My fondest memory of Jimmy is when he almost killed me,” O’Hagan wrote in an email. It was August 23, 2009, the day England reclaimed the Ashes (if you remember). I was sitting in the lower stands at the Vauxhall End of the Oval, talking to some friends as the England team warmed up right in front of me. At one point, Jimmy bowled a misplay, but because I was talking to my friend I didn’t hear Graeme Swann’s warning shout. It was only when the ball whizzed past my left ear that I realised there was danger. I’m sure many other batsmen have had similar experiences, but at least they expected it.
Interesting opening! A worthy topic. Let’s talk about some of your memories of Jimmy. Pin it.
It was a great morning for Mikhail Lewis. He’s making his debut and is the first cricketer from St Kitts to play a Test match. What do we know? Not much. The 23-year-old right-hander has played seven times for the Leeward Islands and comes into the tour in fine form at the end of the domestic season, scoring a hundred and several fifties in his last three innings, and adding another fifty last week against a County Select XI. Today he appears at Lord’s with his captain to face Duke’s JM Anderson.
The names were announced yesterday and the team was finalised at the toss.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicket), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikhail Lewis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanadze, Kavem Hodge, Joshua da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Gudakesh Moti, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Shields
Stokes will speak at the toss. “I’m really pleased to have Gus and Jamie joining the team. They both have great potential and have earned their place in this team. We are always looking to improve as a team. It’s been a while since we’ve spent time together in India but we’re looking to see where we’re going and progress as much as we can.”
About Jimmy: “You can expect total passion, desire and enthusiasm to win.” Simple.
Now it’s Kraigg Brathwaite’s turn. “They would have pitched,” he said. “At Rose, batting first is important, you have to believe. You have to believe to achieve it. Think big.”
Ben Stokes won the toss and England batted first.
The crowd roars (by Lorde standards).
Forget I said it was muggy. I realise now that this was an impression I got from riding the subway at rush hour. I stepped out onto the balcony in front of the press box and it was cold, windy and dark. Forget what the pitch looked like, it’s the same at every Test match. Miscellaneous expenses These are the people who make this bowl first thing in the day.
By the way, are you looking for some pre-test listening practice? The last word It’s a podcast I co-host with Jeff Lemon from the same parish. Jimmy’s best friend Greg James came to visit us a few weeks ago.He was adept at telling Anderson’s story from the other side of the border, a story we don’t know much about, despite being in the public eye for more than 20 years.
Jimmy Anderson Week begins.
Literally winning the most toss and bowl mornings imaginable. #ENGvWI https://t.co/c5hdWx8bxw pic.twitter.com/CFYFtSIF1Z
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) July 10, 2024
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preamble
Adam Collins
“It will be an honour to do it one last time.” At Lord’s this week, the all-time great James Anderson retires after 188 Test matches and more than 700 Test wickets. The real honour would be to sit here at the Nursery End and watch him, ideally this morning, take the new ball. As either captain would surely do if the coin fell in their direction, for it is muggy outside. But after days of rain, it shouldn’t.
Of course, it’s not just Jimmy this week. For starters, the hosts have two other players in debutant Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson, who bowls as fast as he can. As Ben Stokes made very clear in his press conference yesterday, what we’re seeing with his team this year is a transitional period in their preparations for the Australian series. Of course, they want to win the game in front of them, but they also have medium-term plans.
These comments have caused a bit of outrage on the world wide web, but I think they made the right decision. The only way to prepare for future series is to take advantage of the current matches, there is no clever middle ground. If we want Smith and Atkinson (and Pennington and Potts) to be match-winning Test players by the time India get here in 12 months’ time, and then for the tour of Australia after that, now is the time to lay the foundations. It’s not perfect, but selections are rare. Time will tell.
There is a lot of pessimism about the direction of Test cricket for the West Indies, but let’s not forget that they beat Australia in an emotional way at the Gabba in February. This was their most recent opener, and it was Sharma Joseph who made it possible, taking 7/68 on a magical afternoon in Brisbane. The visiting team, led by veteran Kraigg Brathwaite, will be lucky to perform similarly well over the next three weeks. We’ll get to know them a bit more in due course.
Well, that’s all for now. As always, you can reach me via email or formerly known as The Artist twitterThere are about 15 minutes left until the toss.
Welcome to Lord’s, the home of cricket😍🏡
📍Cricket Home Page pic.twitter.com/mlErefntIA
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2024
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