[Watch] James Anderson takes a fifer for Lancashire in County Championship fixture against Nottinghamshire
Veteran England seamer James Anderson geared up for his final Test with a five-wicket haul for Lancashire against Nottinghamshire in the ongoing County Championship Division 1 fixture. Bowling his first spell in four months, the 41-year-old nipped out six out of six wickets to fall on Tuesday (July 2), leaving the opposition reeling.
Anderson claimed the wickets of captain Haseeb Hameed, Will Young, Joe Clarke, Jay Haynes, Lyndon James, and Liam Patterson-White. None of the dimissed batters could get to double figures as Nottinghamshire slumped to 40/6 at one stage.
With England setting their sights on the 2025-26 Ashes series Down Under, the think tank asked the right-arm seamer to retire from the format. Hence, the opening Test of the summer against the West Indies at Lord's will be the veteran's 188th and last. Anderson passed 700 Test scalps during the India tour earlier this year and need nine more to become the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. His tally is currently behind Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800).
James Anderson to become England's fast-bowling mentor after retirement
Meanwhile, England cricket's managing director Robert Key is keen not to let go of the veteran's services and decided to rope him in as the mentor. The former middle-order batter said, as quoted by Sky Sports:
"He's got so much to offer English cricket, we don't want to see that go. He's going to be with us all summer. It's something that he's very keen to do as well. He hasn't done loads and loads of it, but we've got no question about his knowledge and experience with bowling.
"We have a great opportunity for the rest of the summer to find out just how much he enjoys it or doesn't enjoy it. What he does with Lancashire, we'll probably work out after the Lord's Test."
Apart from the West Indies, England will also host Sri Lanka during the summer.