“With each footstep toward the far side of the bar, each of their distinct silhouettes coming into view, the tram journey just gone is suddenly like a blissful past life, the outdoor sun sucked into a horizonless neon-red darkness.

“My brain is doing the maths and my heart is sinking as I go to shake their hands. I feel like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, ushered into a room under the impression that I’m going to get made, only to be shot. You f******.

“They’re going to tell me something I don’t want to be told, aren’t they? Something I’ve been swerving, darting, shapeshifting, bowling through my whole life.”

England’s James Anderson acknowledges the crowd after taking his 700th Test wicket following the dismissal of India’s Kuldeep Yadav, caught out by Ben Foakes. (Reuters)

With 700 wickets in 187 Tests for England, Anderson is one of the most decorated bowlers in cricket history. He is only the third bowler—and the only fast bowler—to cross the 700-wicket milestone, joining spin legends Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800), a feat he reached in March 2023 against India in Dharamsala.

The conversation with Andrew Strauss

In 2022, Anderson and fellow pacer Stuart Broad were dropped from the England squad touring the West Indies under then-interim director of cricket Andrew Strauss. Anderson recalls how the decision was communicated to him.

“The last time England had tried to do this, it was a 45-second phone call from Andrew Strauss before the West Indies tour in early 2022,” Anderson shared.

James Anderson celebrates a wicket. (Reuters)

“He just said on the phone, incredibly bluntly and swiftly, ‘There’s no easy way to say this, but we’re going in a different direction. We’re giving younger players a go.’ That was it. No further information. End of call.”

Anderson chose not to respond since his children were in the car at the time. “I didn’t mention it to them, I just drove them home, phoned Stuart Broad—who it turned out had been dropped too—and went to the gym.

“We took our combined 1,177 wickets and raged ourselves fitter. They called it a ‘red-ball reset.’ It turned out the red-ball reset needed resetting itself quite quickly, and three months later we were back in.”

Reflecting on the interaction with Strauss, Anderson concluded, “Strauss and I have never spoken about it since. I guess you’d rather be stabbed in the front than in the back.”