Anderson’s Swansong Outshone by Atkinson’s Debut

England’s home summer of cricket began with the first Rothesay Test at Lord’s, with the West Indies looking to overturn a winless run at the Home of Cricket dating back to 1988. For the home side, there were two debutants, as Jamie Smith of Surrey was chosen as wicket-keeper, ahead of both Jonny Bairstow and Smith’s county team-mate Ben Foakes. Ironically, Foakes is Surrey’s first-choice keeper, but it is Smith’s prolific form with the bat, and the speed at which he scores, that gave him the edge in the selectors’ eyes. The other debutant was also from Surrey: fast bowler Gus Atkinson, aged 26, who had impressed in his handful of white-ball appearances for England.

The batting order more or less picked itself, with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett established as the opening pair, followed by Ollie Pope, Joe Root, the returning Harry Brook and skipper Ben Stokes, then Smith was lined up to come in at No 7. However, among the bowlers there was more debate. Shoaib Bashir got the nod for the spinner’s role ahead of his Somerset team-mate Jack Leach – again, the England selectors making a different choice to the players’ county, where Leach is first choice. Chris Woakes’s remarkable record at Lord’s (where he averaged 11 with the ball) was probably a deciding factor in his selection, but all attention was on the player who was making his 188th and final Test appearance for England: Jimmy Anderson. Many fans and pundits would believe that he had been ushered into retirement earlier than was necessary, and that perhaps England’s most successful bowler of all time could have been allowed more say in when his time was up.

For the West Indies, there was just one debutant, opening batter Mikyle Louis (who’d played fewer than ten first-class games), but a look down the rest of the card suggested there was little to cause England any sleepless nights, with four of the top five sharing just nine previous caps between them. Shamar Joseph has burst onto the Test scene as a fast bowler and one hopes that his early promise will blossom into a long and successful career. Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl first, ensuring that Louis was straight into the action, and that the crowds didn’t have to wait to see Anderson.

In the first over, Louis hit Anderson for two boundaries to give the debutant early joy, and the West Indies made a decent start until Atkinson was brought on and, with his second delivery in Test cricket, found the inside edge of skipper Kraigg Brathwaite’s bat and the ball cannoned into the stumps: 34 for one. Next Kirk McKenzie edged Atkinson to Crawley at second slip, before Brook took a blinding one-handed catch at third slip off Stokes to remove Louis. At lunch it was 61 for three, as the tough conditions made it hard for the tourists.

After the break, again the West Indies made some good early progress before Alick Athanaze edged Atkinson to Root to make it 88 for four, and it was then that the wheels came off for West Indies. Jason Holder was out first ball, squared up and edging to Brook, and Atkinson was on a hat-trick. He missed out, but only by a ball, as Joshua Da Silva edged to the keeper second ball, to give Atkinson his fifth wicket. Next up Kavem Hodge drilled one to Ollie Pope at point, where he took a stunning catch, and Woakes had his first wicket: 88 for seven. Alzarri Joseph clobbered four boundaries off Atkinson, before he skied one to Woakes at mid-on. Shamar Joseph looped one up to Pope in the gully to give Atkinson his seventh wicket, and then Anderson finally got his first wicket when he trapped Jayden Seales in front, so the West Indies were all out for 121. Atkinson’s figures of seven for 45 were not only his best in first-class cricket, they were also the third best on debut in England’s history, behind John Ferris (seven for 37 v South Africa in 1892) and Dominic Cork (seven for 43 v West Indies in 1995).

While England had caught everything, West Indies dropped their first chance, when Duckett slashed one into the gully on 1 not out, but he didn’t make them pay as he fell for 3, edging Seales to Da Silva. At tea, England were 30 for one, but Crawley and Pope made swift work in the evening session, until the umpires called the players off for bad light by which time it was 88 for one. Pope was first to reach fifty, off 70 balls, while Crawley took 74 balls. The pair were still together when England took the lead, but soon after Pope was trapped in front by Holder, out for 57: 123 for two. Just as Crawley seemed set for a century, Seales bowled a superb Yorker to dismiss the Kent man for 76. Root and Brook saw England through to the close on 189 for three, and in complete control, with a big gulf in quality between the two sides in all aspects of the game.

The second day began with perfect batting conditions, and Root and Brook took full advantage, soon taking the lead past a hundred. Brook reached his fifty in just 55 balls as he continued his excellent form in Test cricket, but without adding to his score he mistimed a pull shot off Alzarri Joseph and top-edged it to Da Silva. Root got to his fifty in 83 balls, but then Stokes had his middle stump uprooted by Gudakesh Motie, who got one to turn sharply out of the rough: 254 for five, and time for Smith, who began slowly, scoring 7 off his first 34 balls, before beginning to show what he can do. Just before lunch, Motie struck again, bowling Root for 68 with a lovely arm ball, and at the break it was 293 for six.

Smith and Woakes made steady progress at the start of the evening session, taking the lead beyond 200 before the second new ball was available. In the second over with the new ball, Woakes drilled one to deep square leg to give Seales an unexpected wicket. Atkinson wasn’t able to repeat his heroics with the ball, and was out first ball, edging Holder to the keeper. Smith now began to hit out, going to a debut fifty off 98 balls. Louis threw down the stumps with a superb direct hit to run out Bashir, which brought Anderson out to bat to a huge standing ovation. But he didn’t get to face a ball as Smith holed out for 70, giving Seales final figures of four for 77. England were all out for 371. For Anderson, his 265th innings brought him his 114th not out and a final sequence of 0, 0, 0, 0* and 0*.

Anderson and Woakes gave nothing away, before Anderson got one to dart back and Brathwaite had no answer as the ball castled him. Stokes came on and struck McKenzie in front, and that was his 200th wicket, making him only the third all-rounder in Test history to score 6000 runs and take 200 wickets, following Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis. A drinks break had a typical impact, and Stokes found Louis’s edge, through to Smith, and West Indies were 32 for three in the 18th over and going nowhere. Atkinson then got Hodge to play on and West Indies’ woes got worse. Athanaze edged Anderson to the keeper, by which stage the Burnley legend was in his ninth over with figures of two for 4, and soon after he passed the landmark of 40,000 deliveries in Test cricket. Just before the close, Atkinson got one to rear up at Holder who could only fend it off to Pope at short square leg: 79 for six at the end of the day, and an innings defeat loomed.

The third day was clearly going to be Anderson’s last in Test cricket, with just four wickets left to take. Both teams lined up to give Anderson a guard of honour as he walked out onto the pitch and he even cracked a smile as the crowd rose again. It didn’t take long before Anderson struck as Da Silva edged to Smith, giving him his 200th wicket caught behind. Alzarri Joseph swung the ball down to Duckett at long leg to give Atkinson his tenth wicket in the match. Atkinson then Yorked Shamar Joseph, and Anderson should have had Motie caught and bowled but put down a fairly regulation chance, which would have given him the perfect ending to his career. Instead Atkinson finished it off, getting Seales caught on the boundary to give him match figures of 12 for 106 on debut, the fourth best analysis for any bowler on debut in history, with Fred Martin’s 12 for 102 the only better effort for England – back in 1890. West Indies were all out for 136, beaten by an innings and 114 runs. So while Anderson departed with a win, there was plenty of excitement about the new bowler who had joined the side.