After two days of one-way traffic at Lord’s, the third is poised to be Jimmy Anderson’s last as a Test cricketer. It will take an almighty fightback from West Indies to alter the course of this match and while weekend ticket holders will be rooting for them, this feels as likely as England reversing the decision to pension off their champion seam bowler.
Not that Anderson was looking to string it out. He was among those to hasten his own departure late on Thursday, delivering two succulent strikes as the tourists slumped to 79 for six. Rolled for 121 in their first innings, and shipping 371 in response thanks to Jamie Smith’s 70 on debut, West Indies will resume 171 runs adrift. They need snookers, safe-crackers or 72 hours of solid rain to avoid going 1-0 down in this three-match series.
In truth, the only remaining questions are the final scoreline and Anderson’s final wicket tally as he saddles up for sunset. It sat at 703 overnight, the 41-year-old having jagged the Dukes back into the top of Kraigg Brathwaite’s middle stump amid a frictionless opening burst before returning to work over Alick Athanaze for an edge behind. Just four more are possible, leaving Shane Warne’s haul of 708 tantalisingly out of reach.
Not that it matters. Anderson took just as much delight at Gus Atkinson denying him this shot at second place in the all-time charts by following that seven-wicket haul on day one with a couple more.
The debutant forced Kavem Hodge to chop on – much like his captain 24 hours earlier – and later brought about the close by bouncing out Jason Holder. Coming on a sluggish pitch, and against a 6ft 7in giant who could only fend to Ollie Pope at short-leg, it underlined Atkinson’s slippery pace and potential.
Another culprit was Ben Stokes, who knocked over Kirk McKenzie and Mikyle Louis in a 10-over burst of thudding swing to move past 200 Test wickets and thus join an elite club. Only Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis have combined this figure with 6,000-plus Test runs previously, even if the England captain – no student of the game’s history – will take more pleasure in his return to all-rounder status after last year’s knee surgery.
As well as savouring the last drops of Anderson, those present may in time also boast about being there for the very start of Smith’s England career. Folks at Surrey expect big things from the 23-year-old right-hander and as he peeled off a half-century in his first outing – turning an overnight lead of 68 into a neat 250 and even clearing the Tavern Stand with a mighty six off Jayden Seales – it was not hard to see why.
There is plenty to like here; a blend of technical precision in defence and elegance in attack to make you wonder whether his future lies higher up the order without the gloves. Not that this is the current thinking, England having settled the long-running wicketkeeper debate for a spell after losing patience with Jonny Bairstow’s all-format form over the course of a gruelling winter and deciding Ben Foakes lacks sufficient power with the bat.
Two innings probably inform the call on the latter. First was the failed run chase in Wellington in early 2023, Foakes falling seven runs short of the target in what became a one-run defeat to New Zealand.
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The second was the series-sealing loss to India in Ranchi earlier this year where, still a chance to keep his side in the contest, Foakes could only chisel out 12 runs from 12 painstaking overs with Shoaib Bashir at the other end.
A chance to see how Smith fared with the tail presented itself here when left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie bowled Stokes, four, and Joe Root, 68, before lunch with a couple of beauties.
The first ragged out of the footholes as Stokes looked to sweep down the slope, the second was an arm-ball that still gripped and beat Root’s outside edge. After Harry Brook had earlier fallen softly for 50, England were 287 for six and leading by 176.
A typically fast starter at the Oval, Smith instead built patiently north of the river, the silent partner in a stand of 33 and his half-century arriving in 98 balls. Good deliveries – and there were plenty, not least from the impressive Seales – were rightly respected, while the odd bit of trash was put away. But once Chris Woakes fell to the second new ball for a typically handy 23 from No 8, Smith began to assert himself on the opposition.
Atkinson came and went but Bashir hung around as Smith went on the offensive, slotting the physically struggling Shamar Joseph for a six into the Grandstand and then repeating the dose to Seales by sending another onto St John’s Wood Road. Not that West Indies lost heart here, debutant Louis producing a wonderful direct hit to run out Bashir for a 17-ball duck and celebrating like he was Ollie Watkins in Dortmund.
It saw Anderson stride out with bat in hand for the 265th and last time, the crowd roaring in anticipation. Could he hit his final delivery for six like his old mate the Nighthawk? We will never know, Smith holing out to leave Anderson stranded 100 runs short of a maiden Test century without facing.
Anderson soon made up for it with another shiny new Dukes in hand, however, and now an emotional final day awaits.