James Anderson concludes legendary career with one last burst of brilliance at Lord's

And so James Anderson’s 188 Test match career comes to an end. The ground that saw his first Test delivery as a 20-year-old has now seen his last aged 41, Lord’s providing the bookends to his extraordinary 21 years as an international cricketer.

When the day started there was little prospect of much play, just four tail-end West Indies wickets remaining, but a sold out Lord’s was packed nonetheless, 31,000 people all there for one man.

He walked onto the pitch before play began to a guard of honour from both sides and a seemingly never-ending standing ovation from the crowd and, although stoic at first, the emotion of the moment did eventually move him to tears.

Anderson has never been one to relish the limelight, always happiest with a ball in his hand, and with an entire crowd gathered solely to witness it one last time, it is hard to tell who was more pleased that, after one Gus Atkinson bouncer from the Pavilion End, the retiring hero was straight into the attack.

Signs of the changing times were there for all to see, Anderson shunted across to his less favoured Nursery End while the debutant Atkinson took the other — old ceding ground to the new.

Anderson began the day with 2/11, with four West Indies wickets left there was the chance of the dream finish, one last five-wicket haul as he headed off into the sun. A Hollywood ending to match Stuart Broad’s sign off last summer or Alastair Cook’s swansong century in his retirement game.

With the first ball of his second over Anderson had the crowd on their feet once again, Joshua Da Silva caught behind – the platonic ideal of an Anderson wicket – angling in and then nipping away outside off stump, the faintest tickle through to the wicket keeper.

At the other end Atkinson continued to enjoy the dreamiest of debuts, the wicket of Alzarri Joseph took him to 10 in the match, and when he added Shamar Joseph in his next over the chance of an Anderson five-fer was taken off the table.

There was however one West Indian wicket left, one final Test scalp for Anderson to claim, to win the game and sign off his career with a cinematic moment all of his own.

All of a sudden the match had an injection of extreme tension that had been entirely absent all game — how long could the West Indies’ last pair survive Atkinson at one end to give Anderson more overs at the other to try and get them out.

Eventually the moment did come for Anderson to sign off in style, Gudakesh Motie chipping a caught and bowled chance back to him. It looped up, he stuck out a hand and to disbelief and dismay all around saw the ball spill from his hand, the perfect sign off slipping agonisingly from his grasp.

Perhaps appropriately that perfectly-scripted moment never came, Atkinson would pick up the final wicket, it gave him his second five-fer in the game, a 12-wicket haul in the match to complete his incredible Test debut.

Watch | James Anderson receives a standing ovation at Lord’s after ending England career on a high

However in many ways Anderson did get a totally fitting moment to sign off his career with, not a gaudy final dramatic moment that would have been so antithetical to his spotlight-shunning persona, but instead the wicket of Da Silva — one last perfect delivery, drawing an opposition edge with nothing but his skill with the ball, proof that he still could do it at the highest level.

Ultimately that’s what he liked about opposition batsmen, he got older but they stayed the same age.