Jimmy Anderson – A Thank You

There’s very little more to contribute when it comes to summing up James Anderson’s legendary cricketing career and for that reason I’ll keep this short and sweet.

The countless other articles in the build up to this week’s Lord’s Test Match, (Jimmy’s 188th and final), have focussed squarely on his extraordinary achievements on cricket’s grandest stages of all. Rightly so. Sporting journalists the world over have eulogised the ‘king of swing’ and his wicket taking wizardry. From Bridgetown to Brisbane and Cape Town to Colombo his talents and longevity have mesmerised adoring crowds the world over and in this sport that is now increasingly dominated by the shortened formats of the ‘white ball’ game we are highly unlikely to see anyone surpass his record 704 wickets as a pace bowler.

As previously stated there are far more elegant and meticulously written pieces if you have a further interest in his greatest games or eye watering stats but I’d like to doff my cap for a different reason. The turn of the millennium was certainly eventful in our small corner of East Lancashire. Racial tensions boiled over into serious disorder and the town was in the press for all the wrong reasons, but from the smouldering ashes of this difficult period emerged hope from within the ever so unifying field of sport. A local youngster by the name James Anderson had burst onto the international cricket scene with a blistering ‘five for sod all’ against a dismal Zimbabwe, injecting a well needed boost into the great people of our sport loving town.

Jimmy’s proving grounds

Hailing from a cricket mad family both me and my brother Kieren were instantly intoxicated with the teen sensation. Football in the winter and cricket in the summer was always the order of the day within our household. Footballing heroes took care of themselves, with the impossibly nimble Glenn Little and goalscoring local hero Andy Payton being two firm favourites, whilst their cricketing equivalents in Stuart Law and Carl Hooper would have come from much further afield, this would soon change. To see a fellow local light up our pre flat screen monstrosity was pure magic. We even caught him bowling in the famous Old Trafford ‘nets’ when representing our small village school in a regional ‘kwik cricket’ competition, standing open mouthed as he perfected his craft. Yes he was English, yes he was impossibly talented, but to us more than anything, he was Burnley.

Time seems to have flown since then. I’ve not picked up a bat for well over ten years but my younger brother Kieren has followed in a certain Mr Anderson’s footsteps, appearing in the fabled Lancashire League for Accrington, Ramsbottom and now as the paid man at Rishton CC. Jimmy’s intervening exploits need no introduction. From his first in-swinger to his final away-swinger he has represented us immaculately, with his tireless work ethic and admirable humbleness epitomising our town and everything that we stand for and although far from essential in the current economic climate, a statue prominently affixed within the centre of town would be a fitting tribute to our finest ever export. It would also serve as an inspiration to the next generation of Burnley youngsters and highlight to them what is possible with application, desire and a little bit of luck.

Kie starring for Accrington in the Lancashire League

This afternoon just after unassumingly wandering off the famous Lord’s turf to rapturous applause, Jimmy spoke to the Sky TV cameras for his last time as an England player. Probed by Ian Ward on how he’d most like to be remembered as a bowler, Jimmy awkwardly fidgeted and replied ‘decent’. There wasn’t the slightest hint of irony about it, but that’s the Burnley in him. Let your bat, feet or hands do the talking. The rest takes care of itself.