Anderson will bow out from Test cricket with a farewell appearance against West Indies at Lord’s.
Graeme Swann has hailed James Anderson as England’s best-ever bowler and backed his former team-mate to log out from Test cricket with a five-wicket haul against West Indies.
Anderson will bring the curtain down on a remarkable international profession with a farewell appearance in the primary Test at Lord’s, which starts on Wednesday.
The 41-year-old, informed last month that England were able to look towards the longer term, will come full circle together with his final Test outing set to happen 20 years on from his debut against Zimbabwe at the identical ground in 2003.
“I believe it’s great he’s attending to end it here at Lord’s. It bookends his profession nicely,” Swann told the PA news agency.
“He got five-fer on debut and he’ll get five-fer within the Test here, I guarantee it.
“It’s the top of an era and he has been our greatest bowler that we’ve ever produced. Full stop. Not arguably. He’s the very best bowler we’ve ever produced.
“He may be very single-minded, very technical and he’s got fitter and fitter. He’s actually fitter now than he was at 25 because his eating regimen once I played with him was a joke!
“Mainly because I used to be buying it but he has really dedicated himself to having a protracted profession and that longevity has paid off.
“He is a superb, skilful bowler and likewise the grumpiest man on the earth, which makes him horrible to play against.”
Swann played 60 Tests between 2008 and 2013, with the bulk alongside Anderson, who currently has 700 scalps in 187 red-ball matches for England.
The introduction of Swann into the Test set-up coincided with a golden period where Lancashire seamer Anderson began to provide his extraordinary levels of consistency frequently.
Three consecutive Ashes wins were achieved, including the memorable 2010-11 tour in Australia, and England reached the highest of the ICC Test rankings.
“Well, we were thick as thieves for a few years me and Jimmy and I don’t need to disclose why. He’s my mate isn’t he,” Swann reflected.
“I used to only love just travelling to the bottom day-after-day. He’s got a terrific taste in music, which the England team I used to be in that stood out because they were horrific.
“With Jimmy, no he knows his music. We used to travel to the sport day-after-day, same playlist and bang out White Lies and stuff like that. Amazing.”
- 187 Tests
- 700 wickets
- 32 five-wicket hauls
- 4 Ashes wins
- One half-century
While Anderson and Swann formed a formidable partnership, on the odd occasion they didn’t see eye-to-eye, with the 45-year-old capable of recall an amusing Test with South Africa at Lord’s in 2012.
Swann explained: “I misfielded off him on day one and he didn’t speak to me for 3 solid days. Seriously. After which he dropped AB de Villiers at short midwicket, the simplest catch you’ve ever seen after which just walked past me.
“I used to be waiting for the apology and he said, ‘serves you right’ and walked off. That’s Jimmy for you! I believe he should go into stand-up and do a Jack Dee routine. I believe he could be good.”
Yet, England usually are not able to completely discard with Anderson’s talents.
A brand new role as fast bowling mentor for this summer has been created by Rob Key, managing director of England men’s cricket.
“As soon as you finish you’re relevant, you’ve got all of the knowledge, you’re still fresh and he is a superb coach,” Swann added.
“I even have seen him do it with all of the bowlers who come into the England team over time. He takes them aside they usually change into immediately a greater bowler after he’s had a 10-minute chat.”
