England name their playing XI for first Test versus West Indies in James Anderson’s farewell game

England will take on West Indies in their first Test series at home for their summer season. Fast bowler James Anderson who had already said it was set to be his final game of his career is set to play in front of a packed crowd at Lord’s. 

The 41-year-old is the only pace bowler to pick over 700 Test wickets and has been the cornerstone for many of his team's wins. It will be an emotional moment for the veteran pacer who will hang up his boots as the greatest pace bowler of all time. 

The English team will be led by Ben Stokes while two debutants are being named in the squad. Jamie Smith has been given the wicketkeeping duties as he replaces Ben Foakes in the playing XI. Fast bowler Gus Atkinson too will make his debut for England as the promising pacer will look to do wonders with the ball. 

James Anderson is set to play one final time for England 

England skipper Ben Stokes will see his star pacer James Anderson head onto a cricket pitch for one last time. The 41-year-old is set to play his 188th and final Test match for the Three Lions on Thursday at the home of cricket. 

Speaking to the Telegraph, the England skipper said “I hope he takes all 20 wickets if I’m being honest. I listened to Stuart talk about his retirement and wanting to go out on top and there was one thing he said that even made me think about when the time comes for me to go. He said: ‘I didn’t want a new player to come in and go I thought Stuart Broad was meant to be good. I thought: ‘Yeah that is a good thing to think about”

Ben Stokes also said “Jimmy’s skillset is obviously still good enough for international cricket. But we have to make big decisions and we have got the Ashes to think about in 18 months’ time. Nobody will ever say, ‘Oh is that Jimmy Anderson? I thought he was meant to be good' because he is still incredible."

West Indies will play three Tests during their tour of England, with the first match to be played at Lord’s. The second match will be played in Nottingham at the Trent Bridge stadium, with the final game taking place in Edgbaston in Birmingham. England is currently bottom of the WTC table with 21 points from 10 games while West Indies are 6th with 16 points from 4 matches. 

England’s Playing XI vs West Indies 

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, and James Anderson.