LONDON: James Anderson said Monday he was “most proud” of his endurance as a Test bowler as he prepares for his farewell match with England after a career spanning two decades.
The paceman, 42 at the end of this month, will bow out from international cricket after playing in the first match of the series between England and the West Indies at Lord’s starting on Wednesday.
It will be his 188th match in the format — he has already taken 700 Test wickets.
No fast bowler has taken more wickets and only India batting hero Sachin Tendulkar has played more matches in the five-day game.
“Playing my 188th Test at just short of 42 years old, makes me the most proud and I’m still pushing myself to be the best I possibly can,” Anderson told a news conference at Lord’s.
“Even though I’ve got one game left, I’ve still tried to train as hard as I can.”
England, looking ahead to the 2025/26 Ashes against Australia, effectively called time on a Test career that Anderson started against Zimbabwe at Lord’s 21 years ago.
“I feel like I’m still bowling as well as I ever have,” he said. “But I knew it had to end at some point, whether it’s now or in a year or two.
“The fact it’s now is something I’ve got to deal with and accept. The last couple of months I’ve made peace with that.
“I can’t complain. I don’t have any regrets, I’ve played hundreds of games for England, played with people who are much more talented than me but didn’t get the opportunity because of injury.”
Asked about his emotions, he said: “I feel pretty normal these last couple of days, trying not to think too much about it.
“It’s been a strange couple of months. I feel pretty happy with where things are now and excited for the week.”
Anderson said he had yet to decide whether this week’s match would represent his farewell to first-class cricket or if he would play on for county side Lancashire.
“I’ve loved being ut on the field for Lancashire, always have,” said Anderson, who recently took an impressive 7-35 for the county.
“I’ve not played a lot for them over the last 20 years, but always tried to give my all.”

WELLINGTON: When qualifier Lulu Sun wept after reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, tears were also being shed on the other side of the world at her tennis club in a small rural town in New Zealand.
Sun, ranked 123rd in the world, cried openly on center court following her stunning 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 fourth-round win over Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, after becoming the first New Zealand woman to reach the last eight at Wimbledon.
Sun, 23, was born in the remote town of Te Anau, near the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island.
A small party broke out in the early hours of Monday morning at the local tennis club as her latest Wimbledon triumph unfolded.
Greg Sheppard, president of Te Anau Tennis Club, said he and around 20 members had been glued to the clubhouse television to witness Sun’s victory.
“It was nerve-racking and very exciting,” Sheppard told AFP.
“When she started crying, we had a few tears in the clubhouse too. It was quite emotional.
“We’re fully pumped for her. It’s unbelievable, something we have never had before. It’ll be great to see Lulu when she is next home.”
Sun is the daughter of a Chinese mother and Croatian father.
After living in Te Anau — a town she describes as having “more sheep and deer than people” — Sun moved with her mother to Shanghai before settling in Switzerland.
Until this year, she was playing under the Swiss flag having played college tennis in the United States.
Sheppard said there was immense pride in seeing Sun play so well, so far away.
“I reckon if you dug a hole, you’d probably come out in Wimbledon. We are right on the other side,” he joked.
The draughtsman said he struggled to get any work done on Monday.
“I got home around 7am and charged my phone up, I’d run out of battery twice. My phone has been ringing red hot,” said Sheppard, who anticipates another sleep-interrupted night when Sun plays Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the last eight on Tuesday.
Sun will be bidding to become only the second New Zealand woman to reach the last four at a Grand Slam, after Belinda Cordwell at the 1989 Australian Open.
“Hopefully it will be closer to the start of the night or at the other end, where we can have a cooked breakfast to go with our next match watching,” said Sheppard, who remembers Sun as a 13-year-old winning games against the club’s top men.
Her most recent appearance at the club, which has around 120 members, was an exhibition in 2018 and they will invite Sun to a tournament in December.
“We’ll be hoping she comes along, shows us a trophy or a medal or two,” said Sheppard.
“I don’t know if we’ll get a hit of tennis out of her, it would be quite cool if we did.”