Jimmy Anderson has retired, and everything is worse now

‘Jimmy Anderson has retired, and everything is worse now.’

If you’re wondering, yes, this quote is a direct modification of what Bojack Horseman says about his mother in his Eulogy to her in the episode named Free Churro.

It’s a 26-minute episode and Bojack Horseman, the protagonist, spends the entire episode talking about his mother. Someone on reddit transcribed it, and the speech came down to about 4,500 words approximately.

The thing is, you can probably easily write 4,500 words — or way more — talking about Jimmy Anderson’s international career. He made his first appearance in an England shirt way back in 2002. Those born in the early and mid 90s first saw Anderson play when they were in primary school. The same people are now in their late 20s and early 30s, with a good chunk of them married, settled, and having kids. 

With his retirement, Anderson takes a part of all these people’s lives with him.

For most of these people, Anderson has been one of the few constants in their entire life. But that will no longer be the case after the second week of July. Ouch.

It might not sink in now, but it’ll hit hard one fine day. When you’re watching England play and……there’s no Jimmy Anderson. Not because he’s been rested, nope. Not because his workload is being managed, nope. Because he’s retired. Because he’s hung up his boots and called it a day. 

That’s going to be a pretty empty feeling, and I’m honestly not sure how many people are ready to go through or embrace that particular feeling. 

There’s not enough space in this article to decode Anderson’s career from start to finish. But if there’s one thing, one narrative that’s been a constant in Jimmy’s career, it’s that he’s the man who kept defying the odds over and over and over again. 

20 years ago, not many believed he would be a successful Test bowler. After impressing on debut against Zimbabwe, he then endured a very tough eight-game period in which he managed just 18 wickets in 14 innings @ 45.22. 

Anderson was England’s hand-picked golden boy back in the day (note: his hairstyle and hair colour had nothing to do with this tag) and so the English media feasted on the false start that a then 22-year-old Jimmy endured. 

But this was a man who was a mentality monster even in his early 20s, fueled by criticism and driven by the purpose of wanting to prove the naysayers wrong.

He gave an interview to The Daily Mirror in November 2003 (as reported by ESPNcricinfo here), on the back of a disappointing South Africa series in which he averaged 40, and, there, this is what he said: "One minute I was in every headline and everyone was saying nice things about me, the next people were telling me I was no good. When you play for England, you have to put up with the criticism."

It’s impossible to not look back on this quote from 21 years ago and come to the realization that it’s his mind more than his talent — which, by the way, he had in abundance — that pushed Anderson to become an all-time great. 

People suspected that, at the Test level, he would be nothing more than a flash in the pan. As it turned out, he went on to become the most prolific seamer in the sport’s history. 

He was told constantly that he would not have a long career. He was told that injuries would take a toll on him. Well, he went on to become the most durable fast bowler in the sport’s history, playing at the very highest level for a ridiculous 21 years. 

As recently as probably half a decade ago, he was being mocked for his pace. He was told that, in his late 30s, he would be nothing more than a glorified trundler. Of course, he went on and breached the 140 kph barrier in the four-Test series against India at the age of 41. 

And oh, speaking of India, remember the Clouderson allegations? When he was being belittled on the internet for allegedly being a home-track bully that was only capable of thriving in overcast conditions that aided swing? 

He spent the last three years of his career almost exclusively debunking these allegations, averaging a ridiculous 20.50 across 10 Tests in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, he bowled the Three Lions to a famous series win on tracks that were designed to not just nullify his threat, but nullify the art of bowling overall. 

That Anderson did all the above in the last three years of his career is objectively funny. Because it was in 2020, right before the Pakistan series, that he was being labeled ‘washed’ and ‘past it’. 

There were even rumours that he was planning to end his career after the first Test against Pakistan (on August 5, 2020) at Old Trafford. Since those rumours, Anderson ended up taking a small matter of 110 wickets at an average of 24.10. 

He simply kept defying the odds. But he also made the impossible look possible. Nobody in their wildest dreams imagined it was humanly possible for a fast bowler to play close to 200 Tests. Before Anderson’s 150th appearance, not a single specialist quick had played even more than 135 Tests. 

The Lancashire man went on to touch 187 appearances in the India series, and will retire against West Indies with 188. He would, in all likelihood, have surpassed 200 and broken Sachin Tendulkar’s record if the England management allowed him to. 

And let’s not even get into the age discussion. England’s Test head coach, Brendon McCullum, is only a few months older than Anderson. He’s been retired for about half-a-decade and is a part-time coach / full-time golfer these days. Meanwhile Jimmy was out there only three months ago proving to be England’s standout bowler against the best home Test side (arguably of all time) in alien conditions.

As Anderson’s career comes to a close, there’ll inevitably be people pulling up numbers and making a case for why he is not an all-time great. Or perhaps why it’s simply recency bias that Anderson is being regarded as one of the best to ever grace this sport. 

Ignore that, because Anderson’s achievements — as both a cricketer and a role model — transcends numbers.

He has effectively made a mockery of all long-standing 'norms' that listed out what is ‘possible’ and ‘not possible’ for a cricketer, let alone a fast bowler. So many cricketers who are now in their mid 30s are going to be looking up to him and thinking, ‘Well, if he can, then I can too’. 

He has effectively done to cricket what the Big Three (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) did to Tennis: push the boundaries of longevity to a level nobody thought was possible. His impact will stand the test of time and will inspire generations of sportspersons. 

There’s a lot more to be written about Jimmy, and, trust me, a lot more will be written. 

But, for now, I can only say this once more: Jimmy Anderson has retired, and everything is worse now.