Watch- James Anderson in tears as he leads England back to the dressing room for the final time

James Anderson's illustrious Test career finally came to an end on Friday (July 12) with the conclusion of the first Test between England and West Indies at Lord's.

The legendary bowler had made his debut in Tests at the same venue way back in 2003 under the captaincy of Nasser Hussain. Since then, dozens of players made their England debuts, and retired as well but James Anderson remained a constant for more than two decades before hanging his boots on Friday.

The veteran pacer bowed out of Tests after helping England win one more game. It took England less than a session to wrap up the West Indies innings and win the series opener with utmost ease inside three days. The day started on an emotional note as James Anderson received a guard of honor from both teams before getting down to business.

James Anderson struck first for England for one more time as he gave his team the early breakthrough by dismissing Joshua Da Silva in his second over with an absolute beauty. It was a trademark delivery from the England great as the ball swung away at the last moment and the West Indies batter ended up edging it to the wicketkeeper.

Debutant Gus Atkinson then picked up the remaining three wickets to help England bowl out West Indies for 136 runs and register a thumping victory by an innings and 114 runs. After the victory, an emotional James Anderson led the England team off the field.

The 41-year-old looked highly emotional as he walked off the field with a smile on his face. The capacity crowd at Lord's gave him a standing ovation as the legendary pacer left the field as a Test player for one last time. He then shook hands with the West Indies players before being greeted by a big hug from head coach Brendon McCullum.

Watch as James Anderson leads England off the field:

Jimmy waves goodbye to Lord's for one last time 👋

We're not crying, you're crying 🥺 pic.twitter.com/1RLOX2e3c0

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 12, 2024

James Anderson has retired from Tests as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. No pacer has taken more wickets than him in the longest format of the game while only legendary spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have more Test wickets than him. Anderson has picked up a staggering 704 wickets in 188 Tests.