Richard Mann reflects on James Anderson's retirement after Lord's farewell

You’ll miss me when I’m gone.

Captaincy is about to get a whole lot tougher for Ben Stokes. Things might get tougher for Brendon McCullum, too.

We’ll start with McCullum. By all accounts, it was the head coach, accompanied by Rob Key and Stokes, who led the conversation to inform James Anderson that it had been decided his time as an international cricketer was up.

The need to finally move on and build for the future, with an away Ashes series in Australia now less than two years away, was the driving force behind the decision, one which while understandable to a degree, is open to much criticism when few would disagree that Anderson remains the best bowler in the country.

More compelling, it seems, is the knowledge that Australia’s batting line-up played Anderson brilliantly last summer as he laboured through four Ashes Tests for only five wickets. Furthermore, for all he has become a much better bowler in Australian conditions to the one that struggled so badly in the 5-0 drubbing in 2006/2007, his average Down Under still stands at a modest 34.01. Pace, bounce and brawn has always been the route to success in Australia, less the skill and craft Anderson possesses.

But Anderson’s contribution to this England cricket team, and the many he has played in before, cannot be measured just by the wickets he has taken – 704 by the time the curtain was drawn on this remarkable career at Lord’s on Friday.

We’ve heard plenty of criticism of Anderson and his former partner in crime, Stuart Broad, in regard to what at times appeared to be an obsession with economy rates. But being able to control the run rate has been key to many of the most successful captaincies in cricket history. Australia ruled the world on the back of the Shane Warne-Glenn McGrath bowling partnership, and when they weren’t taking wickets, the pair almost always controlled the scoreboard, allowing Steve Waugh and then Ricky Ponting to keep calling the shots in the field.

Bazball has been heralded for breeding positivity for batsmen and bowlers alike. But we shouldn’t forget that in Stokes’ first series in charge against New Zealand, Anderson’s economy rate was down at 2.82, while the likes of Jack Leach, Broad and Stokes were more expensive.

South Africa were next to fall to the Bazball sword, Stokes praised once more for his attacking field placings and innovative captaincy, but he was always able to do so from a position of comfort when under little pressure. Anderson took 10 wickets at an average of 16.60 in that series, with his economy rate of 2.32 much the best of England’s seamers. It’s easy to attack when your bowlers are suffocating the opposition.

Arguably, the highlight of Stokes-McCullum reign so far was the 3-0 away series victory in Pakistan on three of the flattest pitches ever seen in international cricket. Stokes came up with plenty of funky fields and used his resources well, but Anderson delivered 67 overs in the first two matches, before he was rested with the series won, claiming eight wickets and finishing with an economy rate of just 2.20. He was again the most miserly of all the England bowlers on that tour.

That’s the thing about Anderson. We hear so much about him being the grand master in swinging conditions, so much so that we forget that he has a superior record to Pat Cummins in Asia, and that his numbers in that part of the world – 92 wickets at 27.51 – make a mockery of someone like Mitchell Johnson, Anderson’s one-time rival, who himself could only muster 33 scalps in the subcontinent at 40.36.

It's true that on a cold, spring day in England, armed with a new Dukes cherry, you wouldn’t want to throw the ball to anyone else. But it’s the ugly stuff, the hard days in the dirt, the constant strive for improvement and the refusal, even now, to accept he’s beaten. That’s what I’ll remember most about Anderson.

Even in his 42nd year, with retirement confirmed and nothing left to prove, Anderson offered one final reminder of his enduring class at Lord's with a brilliant display in the West Indies second innings – his final act on the big stage seeing him return figures of 3-32 off 16 overs and pass 40,000 deliveries bowled in Test cricket.

And while he might've been upstaged by Gus Atkinson in the first innings, Anderson still finished with 1-26 from 10.4 overs. Furthermore, Atkinson's second-ball wicket, Kraigg Brathwaite slashing at a wide delivery and chopping on to his stumps, came straight after Anderson had delivered an opening spell of 5-2-11-0, the last four overs only conceding two runs after nine in the first, four of which came via a thick outside edge through gully.

As much as anything else, bowling is about partnerships. Broad and Anderson know that better than most, and by creating enough pressure for long enough, England were able to force a mistake out of the usually obdurate Brathwaite. It was Atkinson's wicket, but Anderson certainly played his part in opening the door. That's what Anderson does, and someone else will need to fill that void now he's gone.

Standing up and delivering - the Anderson way

Perhaps Anderson's greatest performance in an England shirt came in the first Test of the 2013 Ashes when he defied an unusually dry pitch at Trent Bridge to claim 10 wickets in the match, bowling England to victory on the final afternoon as all around him wilted in the face of Australia and Brad Haddin’s late fightback. Anderson had the final say, just reward for delivering 13 overs on the reel before Lunch as captain Alastair Cook was left with nowhere else to turn. Talk about standing up and delivering when your team needs it most.

It was a remarkable display of endeavour, energy and skill in conditions Australia might’ve hoped would nullify Anderson’s threat. India probably thought the same when they welcomed England the previous winter, but when England won that series to create history, home captain MS Dhoni described Anderson as the difference between the two teams. There wasn’t a green seamer in sight in that series, but the great Anderson just found a way.

When Brian Lara labels Anderson as best fast bowler of all time, as he did this week, you have to sit up and take notice. It’s an incredibly difficult debate to have, not least win. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see better than McGrath in my lifetime, and I wished I’d seen more of Wasim Akram early in his career, but in Dale Steyn it’s hard to believe there has been a better quick bowler in the history of cricket.

Genuinely fast with a curling outswinger that snapped late, Steyn was simply awesome at his best, fully fit with steam seemingly puffing from his ears. Where Anderson needed craft and guile to succeed abroad, the South African could huff and puff until he blew the same house down. Steyn finished up with 92 wickets in Asia, the same number as Anderson but from 10 fewer matches and at a lower average of 24.11. At home, he was a sight to behold – and 439 Test wickets at 22.95 is an outstanding Test record.

So, then, it was a delight to see Anderson and Steyn appear together on a Sky Sports Cricket Vodcast during lockdown in the Covid-19 pandemic. The respect and admiration for one another was obvious, Steyn at one point appearing to be in awe of a man he had spent so many years competing against. 'I admit it, I’m a huge fan of Jimmy and his incredible skills,' Steyn beamed. For his part, Anderson has always maintained that Steyn is number one.

Frankly, who really cares? The very fact we are now having these discussions tells us just how far Anderson has come from the Burnley boy who made his Test debut at Lord’s back in 2003, the very same ground that hosted his goodbye party this week. Anderson was quick back then, not Steyn quick, but he could regularly clock 90mph, and his outswinger was oh so natural, if a touch erratic.

In the 21 years since, he has honed that outswinger, nowadays delivering it at will like a robot, rarely far away from the top of off stump. When he recovered from a stress fracture that at one stage threatened to ruin his career, Anderson added an inswinger to his armoury, and then the now-famed wobble seam ball that has almost become his stock delivery in more recent years.

He is now metronomically accurate and when you add those skills to the heart of a lion, incredible fitness levels and a pure love of bowling, it’s clear Anderson is the complete package – wherever you want to rank him among the pantheon of greats.

What is also clear is the respect in which he is held by his peers, Steyn, Lara and then last week Australia’s Nathan Lyon, for now a teammate at Lancashire, speaking of his disbelief at England’s decision to let Anderson go while he is still operating at such a high level. The warm words have kept on coming in the last few days, from opponents and teammates old and new.

Anderson will be missed by many. I can’t imagine watching England play Test cricket without Anderson leading the bowling attack. I’ll get used to it, of course, but it won’t ever be the same again. And I won’t be alone in that.

But more significantly, England will feel his absence, too. Maybe not next week, or even next month, as West Indies and Sri Lanka provide a nice opportunity for the next generation to feel their way in Test cricket.

But darker days will come. It might be when the team returns to Pakistan in the autumn and Stokes finds himself searching for answers, for some magic, for some control. Babar Azam might be feasting on another road at home and suddenly England need their talisman to stem the tide or produce a spell of reverse swing like the memorable one he delivered when knocking over Shubman Gill and Ajinkye Rahane in the same over in Chennai in 2021.

Anderson has been providing those moments of inspiration for 21 years now, and when he hasn’t been able to do that, he has rarely let England down, putting in the hard yards, doing a job for his team, controlling the run rate, answering every call.

But when Stokes looks around the field in Multan, Anderson won’t be there to call upon. His most reliable lieutenant banished to the backroom staff.

Oh yes, Stokesy, you’ll miss me when I’m gone.