Emotional James Anderson Leads Out England Ahead Of His Final Test Match - WATCH

The cricketing world has come to a halt as an emotional James Anderson leads out England ahead of his final test match. James Anderson's remarkable international cricket career will come to a fitting end with the first Test between England and West Indies at Lord's. James Anderson, who made his Test debut at Lord's over two decades ago, is playing his final Test at the same iconic venue. The "King of Swing" will retire from the game as the most successful pace bowler in the history of Test cricket. No other fast bowler has taken more wickets than him in the longest format of the game. Only Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have taken more Test wickets than him, making him one of the leading wicket-takers in the history of Test cricket.

Emotional James Anderson leads out England ahead of his final test match

James Anderson announced his retirement some time ago, with the Lord's Test set to be his last. Anticipation for the legendary pacer's farewell swelled as the 1st Test against West Indies approached. As the players from both teams walked out for the national anthems, Anderson led the way for England, with the capacity crowd at Lord's standing on its feet to applaud the second-most capped Test cricketer. Anderson's daughters, Ruby and Lola, rang the five-minute bell while his family was also in the stands. Earlier, skipper Ben Stokes had won the toss and elected to field first, meaning Anderson got the opportunity to take the new ball for one last match as he was, unsurprisingly, given the first over of the test match.

Watch: James Anderson gets a standing ovation as he leads England out for his last Test

James Anderson leads out England ahead of his final Test match for England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🙌 pic.twitter.com/TOtTQnpb9l

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 10, 2024

Earlier this year, he became the first-ever pacer to reach 700 wickets in Tests, achieving the monumental milestone against India during the Dharamsala Test. No other bowler has played more Tests than him, with only the legendary Sachin Tendulkar ahead of him in the list. "King of Swing" James Anderson made his Test debut at Lord's in May 2003 and will end his England career at the same venue in July 2024.

Jimmy Anderson is the third-highest wicket-taker in Test history and needs eight wickets in his final appearance to draw level with the late Shane Warne in second. England gave debuts to Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson, the Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman and fast bowler respectively, with off-spinner Shoaib Bashir playing his first match at home. Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson have been dropped, while Mark Wood is rested after the T20 World Cup.

One last time 🥲

Are we ready for this?#ENGvWI | #TheGreatest pic.twitter.com/yMdYOTmc2D

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2024