LONDON: Joe Root admitted he will “terribly miss” playing alongside James Anderson after the pacer retired from Test cricket after England beat West Indies in the first Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Friday.
Anderson took four wickets in his final Test match and retired with 704 wickets, the third most behind Shane Warne (708 wickets) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets).
Root played 110 Test matches alongside Anderson and captained the England pacer 46 times, the second most behind Alastair Cook (49).
“For me, the only thing I’ve ever known for England was playing alongside Jimmy, and that’s been 12 years,” Root said.
“It’s a little bit strange to see Stuart [Broad] go last year and [now] Jimmy. I’m going to miss playing alongside him terribly, but the fact that he’s going to be here over the summer will be great for the young bowlers coming through and for us to continue to use those experience and everything else the dressing room can offer.
“I’m really glad he got the break he deserves, but also in some ways it’s a bit sad to see him go.”
After the first Test against the West Indies ended, Anderson thanked the Lord’s crowd for giving him a memorable farewell before saying he was proud of his achievements.
“It’s been an amazing week, I’ve been blown away by the reaction from the crowd and everyone around,” Anderson told Sky Sports. “I am proud of what I have achieved.
When asked about his future plans, the 41-year-old confirmed that he will remain with the team through the summer to help the young pacers as England continue to improve their position in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) table.
“I’m going to stick with these guys for the rest of the summer and try to help with the bowling as much as I can. We’ll see where life takes me after that, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead,” Anderson said.
