Like those hippy wigs in Woolworths mentioned at the end of Withnail and I, they were selling limited edition Jimmy Anderson last Test merchandise on day one at Lord’s. The greatest two and a bit decades of English seam bowling in history are nearly over, man, and for a mere £60 punters could get their hands on a commemorative hoodie.
How long Anderson’s grand farewell lasts may hinge on the weather in St John’s Wood over the coming days, England having dominated the early exchanges against West Indies. They also did so in a manner that lent weight to the decision by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum to reboot the Test side this summer, with the newcomer Gus Atkinson bursting out of his cellophane wrapping to take seven sparkling wickets.
Sideways glances might have followed had Anderson dominated proceedings at the start of this 188th and final Test. Although the 41‑year‑old was not exactly sidelined. His greatest hits featured regularly on the big screen and his 701st Test wicket put a full stop on a rather sorry 121 all out from the tourists. His daughters, Lola and Ruby, ringing the bell at the Bowlers’ Bar before play was a lovely moment, too, Anderson cracking a proud smile out in the middle that just about prevented a tear from forming.
But 21 years since one shy, undemonstrative fast bowler announced himself to the world with a place on the Lord’s honours board, another cut from the same cloth repeated the trick. Atkinson, a smidgeon older than that early days Anderson at 26, claimed the third‑best figures by an England men’s Test debutant – seven for 45 from 12 overs – with the slippery wicket-to-wicket nip that trumped just 19 first-class games for Surrey.
The skies over St John’s Wood were bruised for most of the day and Stokes is a captain who rarely needs a second invitation to bowl first. Having seen their achilles heel – batting – exposed on a slow surface during the first half, West Indies’ clear strength – fast bowling – could not quite provide the requisite rush of wickets in response. Instead, England closed on 189 for three for a commanding overnight lead of 68 runs.
There were some bright moments from the tourists, not least Jayden Seales terminating Zak Crawley’s sprightly 76 with a lasered yorker that knocked back leg stump. Seales had earlier nicked off Ben Duckett cheaply on the drive, while Jason Holder – twice thwarted by the review system – finally removed Ollie Pope lbw for 57 with an inswinger. But with Joe Root (15) and Harry Brook (25) poised to resume first thing, they still have it all to do.
West Indies had started determinedly against Anderson and the returning Chris Woakes before the lacquer came off the Dukes ball and it started to move. Even after being pegged back by Atkinson’s initial spell of five overs, two for two, plus a wicket for Stokes when Brook’s humdinger of a low catch at slip removed the opener, Mikyle Louis, for 27, things appeared honours even. Stuck in by their hosts, they were 61 for three at lunch.
Atkinson’s early burst had seen just his second ball in Test cricket chopped on to the stumps by Kraigg Brathwaite – 10 minutes off strike inducing a loose cut from the West Indies captain – and Kirk McKenzie fenced to slip. What followed after the interval surpassed those early inroads, however, Atkinson utterly filleting the middle order with three wickets in four balls that turned the usual Lord’s hum into a guttural roar.
Brathwaite’s early exit had taken with it 12 of the 16 Test centuries this West Indies side had scored previously and the other two batters to taste three figures, Holder and Joshua Da Silva, lasted just three balls between them. Once the tidy Alick Athanaze fell to Root at first slip on 23 – ending a 44‑run stand with fellow Dominican, Kavem Hodge – and Holder offered half a bat to edge to third, Atkinson found himself on a hat-trick.
Da Silva kept out the full, straight attempt but was sent on his way next ball when an inside edge flew behind. As well as sealing a maiden Test five‑wicket haul for Atkinson – just his second in first-class cricket – it was a first catch for his Surrey teammate and fellow debutant Jamie Smith. The 23-year-old kept pretty tidily overall, too, despite Lord’s being a tricky ground for it and the ball rarely reaching him above waist height.
In between this surge and Atkinson wiping out the two Josephs – Alzarri and Shamar both skying catches in the final throes – came a wicket for Woakes. For some, the 35‑year‑old is a slight curio in this reshuffle; a bowler who, like Anderson, feels unlikely to make the targeted Ashes tour the winter after next. England still want a degree of continuity, however, and after some early jaffas that found only fresh air, Woakes finally removed the watchful Hodge for 24 thanks to a remarkable reflex catch from Pope at short cover.
Like Brook earlier on – albeit with a more nonchalant celebration – it summed up a fine display in the field overall. Stokes sending down eight successive overs of thudding swing without any ill-effects from knee surgery last year was another box ticked. It just needed a wicket for Anderson, with England and the capacity crowd finally having their collective wish granted when a full inswinger to Seales, the No 11, struck the back leg in front.
All told, it was the kind of day Stokes and McCullum will have had in mind when they tapped Anderson on the shoulder in late April: a worthy celebration of what has been a remarkable career and, in Atkinson’s arrival, the promising first steps of a new one.
