LONDON: James Anderson will play his last Test in a team featuring two debutants after Surrey’s Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson were selected for this week’s series opener against the West Indies at Lord’s.

England cut short speculation about their side for the first of a three-Test series by naming their XI on Monday — two days before the start of Wednesday’s match.

Anderson’s 188th and final Test appearance will mark the end of a record-breaking career spanning two decades.

No fast bowler has taken more than Anderson’s 700 Test wickets and only India batting hero Sachin Tendulkar has played more matches in the five-day game.

Anderson might have carried on for the rest of the season even though he turns 42 at the end of July.

But the decision to retire was effectively made for him when he met with England managing director Rob Key, red-ball coach Brendon McCullum and Test captain Ben Stokes in late April.

The hierarchy told Anderson they wanted to make changes as they looked to build a squad for the 2025/26 Ashes series in Australia.

“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise because when the three big dogs invited me to a hotel in Manchester for a chat I didn’t think it was just a normal appraisal,” Anderson told a news conference at Lord’s.

“I had a suspicion that that was going to be the case. I think they were surprised at how calm I was when I reacted. I think I was probably surprised at my reaction. I wasn’t overly emotional about it or angry about it or anything.”

He added: “I saw their point of view and appreciated them taking the time out to lay it out for me, the reasoning and stuff like that. Since then I’ve come to terms with it and made peace with that decision.”

West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder paid tribute to Anderson by saying: “I’m sure he’s got still a lot left in the tank and stuff to prove.

“I always like playing against great players and he’s no doubt one of the great players of the game, so I’m looking forward to the contest for one last time.” Anderson has yet to decide whether he will keep playing for Lancashire.

“The likelihood is this week is my last game of first-class cricket this season, but we’ll have to see what happens,” he said. “It’s a difficult one to weigh up because my emotions are all over the place.”

But the match will also launch a new era for England as well.

As the lone wicketkeeper in the squad after England dropped Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes, Smith’s place at number seven was assured before Monday’s announcement.

But doubts remained about the composition of England’s attack in a team again captained by Ben Stokes.

Atkinson has forced his way in ahead of Durham’s Matthew Potts and the uncapped Nottinghamshire quick Dillon Pennington.

The 26-year-old Atkinson has previously played nine one-day internationals and three T20s and was an unused squad member during the recent Test tour of India.

He has now been given an opportunity to take over from both Anderson and fellow veteran Stuart Broad, who retired after the end of England’s drawn home series against Australia in September last year.

Meanwhile, Chris Woakes will make his first Test appearance in a year as the 35-year-old prepares to become the leader of England’s pace attack in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Spin bowler Shoaib Bashir, who edged his more senior Somerset team-mate Jack Leach out of the squad, will make a first home appearance after taking 17 wickets in three Tests in India.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2024