Nottingham [UK], July 20 (ANI): Former England pacer James Anderson opened up on his transition from a player to the team’s bowling mentor during the ongoing series against the West Indies at home, saying that he is loving his job and that it has been relaxing for him.
Following his retirement from international cricket after the first Test at Lord’s against the West Indies, former right-arm seamer Anderson has joined the England side as the bowling mentor for the remaining two matches of the Test series. Anderson has been moved into this role keeping the 2025-26 Ashes series in Australia in mind in order to groom newer stars into world-class bowlers.
Speaking to Sky Sports during the innings break, Anderson said that the past few days have been interesting for him.
“It has been an interesting few days, I have had to deal with the emotions of Lord’s (where the first Test was played) and then come straight here and into a new job. I have loved it,” said Anderson.
“I have known most of the bowlers for many years, nice to just relax and not try to bowl the tail out on a flat one,” he added.
The fast bowler bid farewell to Test cricket after the first Test at Lord’s as the third-highest Test wicket-taker to grace the game.
The 41-year-old took four wickets in the Test match to finish with 704 career scalps in the format, the third behind Muttiah Muralidaran and the late Shane Warne.
The hosts thumped the Caribbeans by an innings and 114 runs in the Test match. Some of the legends of the sport, both past and present, took to social media and acknowledged Anderson’s contribution to cricket for over two decades.
In the second Test, the West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl first.
England delivered a fine batting performance, powered by Ollie Pope’s sixth Test ton (121 in 167 balls, with 15 fours and a six) and fine half-centuries from Ben Duckett (71 in 59 balls, with 14 fours) and skipper Ben Stokes (69 in 104 balls, with eight fours). England made 416/10 in 88.3 overs.
Alzarri Joseph (3/98) was the pick of the bowlers for WI. Jayden Seales, Kavem Hodge, Kevin Sinclair took two wickets, while Shamar Joseph got one wicket.
In their first innings, WI was struggling at 84/3, staring at yet another potential big loss. However, Alick Athanaze (82 in 99 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Kavem Hodge (120 in 171 balls, with 19 fours) pulled out a brilliant counter-attacking partnership of 175 runs. Later on, wicketkeeper-batter Joshua da Silva (82* in 122 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes) pulled off an impressive 71-run partnership for the tenth wicket along with Shamar Joseph (33 in 27 balls, with five fours and two sixes), which helped WI breach England’s first innings score and take a 41-run lead. WI was bundled out for 457 runs in 111.5 overs.
Chris Woakes (4/84) was the top wicket-taker for England. Young pacer Gus Atkinson and spinner Shoaib Bashir also took two wickets each while skipper Ben Stokes and Mark Wood got one.
England will now be aiming to overcome this slender trail in their second inning and set a massive target for the visitors to seal the series 2-0. (ANI)
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