Anderson takes seven wickets in Championship before England’s elimination

Issued on: 02/07/2024 – 21:06

1 minute

Anderson, playing his first Championship match in over a year, took 7-35, the best figures in the Championship this season, as Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 126 in reply to Lancashire’s first innings declared at 353-9.

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon then took his 800th first-class wicket as Nottinghamshire faced Southport in the next round. The visitors were 84-2 at stumps on the third day and needed 143 more runs to avoid innings defeat.

This is the first match the 41-year-old Anderson will play this season as he prepares for the opening Test match against the West Indians at Lord’s, which begins on July 10.

But in his first competitive cricket match since the fifth Test against India in March, he showed few signs of rust, playing a remarkable opening run of 10 overs for 6-19, with former England batsman Haseeb Hameed out first when he let the ball bounce on the bails.

If there was any luck in that dismissal, the rest was the result of Anderson’s impeccable line and length.

He took all six wickets he scored before lunch after Liam Patterson-White was caught in the slips. Anderson’s return was the 55th five-wicket haul of his first-class career.

After the break Anderson came back and was joined by fellow paceman Dillon Pennington, who could make his Test debut at Lord’s.

In contrast, next week’s match will be Anderson’s 188th Test match, after the England leader made his debut in 2003.

Anderson is the first seamer and the third bowler to take 700 Test wickets, after spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

But he has decided to retire from Test cricket after next week’s season opener at Lord’s after England made it clear they wanted to move on in preparation for the 2025-26 Ashes.

Anderson, who will become a mentor for England’s fast bowling after his international career, has yet to confirm whether he will also retire from county cricket this season.

© 2024 AFP