Former England fast bowler James Anderson has been knighted in the list of Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours, thus ending an amazing international cricket career. He is the only fast bowler with the most wickets in Test history, 704.
Although he has retired from international cricket, the 42-year-old bowler continues to represent Lancashire, but his calf injury has kept him out of the County Championship season.
“He’s not only been a great player, he’s been human, and I think that’s what has affected us the most, and that’s what we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. His talent, iron will, honesty of purpose, and spirit are the ones […].” An excerpt from the Sports Capital.
The cricketer is now a member of the players who have been knighted for their dedication to the game of cricket. The departing prime minister is granted the opportunity to suggest state honours to individuals
who have contributed immensely to their respective fields, during the resignation honours list. Anderson took Test match wickets; only five bowlers were above him. Muralitharan, with 800 wickets, and Warne, with 708 wickets, are the only superiors to Anderson in the history of Test cricket.
Anderson started his cricketing journey with the ODI team in December 2002, playing against Australia, and made his Test debut in May 2003. His cricketing journey has spanned over two decades. At the end of his career, he had played 188 Test matches and 194 ODI matches.
Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, current leaders of England’s Test team, were the last to be influenced by the player to decide that they were not moved to handle the issue of James Anderson’s international retirement. This indicates that they are currently focused on building England’s future team. However, the player still has a bright cricket future at the domestic level, according to his own will.
“I’m not excluding myself from the possibility of one, two, or three more years of playing,” Anderson explained after officially registering with Lancashire for a 12-month agreement in the County Championship and Vitality Blast.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the situation. It may happen that after just one month, I will be like ‘no way so terrible’, or maybe I will have a successful year and receive the offer to stay next year,” Anderson said.
Should his tenure in the next season continue, there is no dispute that Sir James Anderson has done enough to etch himself among the history-making legends of cricket as he has been the maestro of swing bowling, a record-breaker, and now, a knight of the realm.
