England go into Wednesday’s opening Test match against the West Indies at Lord’s with a burning desire to honour Jimmy Anderson and begin the long road to the 2025-26 Ashes.
But despite all the signposts to the past and the future, Ben Stokes knows there is no joy like the present. From this week onwards, England must desperately rediscover the gift of victory.
Since the thrilling conclusion to last summer’s Ashes, their Test and white-ball teams have failed every major test: from their woeful defence of their one-day title, through a sobering 4-1 defeat in India, to their disappointing T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, where a semi-final appearance covered up a multitude of sins.
And while Stokes was restrained when it was stressed that his team had not won a Test series since December 2022, one thing is clear: victories over the West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer are non-negotiable.
Their next four series are Pakistan and New Zealand away, India at home, and then the trip to Australia. Life is only going to get tougher in the next phase of the Bazball project.
England go into today’s first Test match against West Indies at Lord’s with a desire to honour Jimmy Anderson
Since the thrilling conclusion to last summer’s Ashes, their Test and white-ball teams have failed every major exam.
To do Stokes justice, his captaincy remains profitable, despite a tour of India during which Brendon McCullum admitted England needed to “refine” their approach. The captain generously described this yesterday as a “little hiccup”.
Yet Stokes’s winning percentage of 58 of the 34 men who have led England in 10 or more Tests is higher than that of all other men except Douglas Jardine and WG Grace.
If he wins five out of six in the coming weeks, he will be at the top of the list. Even his critics, who are still astonishingly numerous, may need to catch their breath.
But the Anderson-related fanfare, which will begin with his family ringing the bell at Lord’s Pavilion five minutes before the start of the match, can’t disguise the rawness of the bowling now at Stokes’ disposal. With Stuart Broad long gone, Anderson on the verge of departure and the disfavoured Ollie Robinson in danger of leaving altogether, England’s greybeard will soon be Chris Woakes, whose domestic Test record — 113 wickets at under-22 — is second to none. Stokes’ own recovery from knee surgery certainly helps.
Yet there is a reason the phrase ‘high ceiling’ is becoming one of his favourites: Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir and Dillon Pennington – who could win his first cap in Nottingham next week – are selected for the heights they can still reach, not the peaks they have already reached.
Meanwhile, Jamie Smith has only worn the gloves for Surrey in two Championship matches since September 2022, and never in a first-class match at Lord’s, where more experienced wicketkeepers than him were made fools of by the late wobble.
It may well be that England’s first assignment will be against a West Indies team who have not won a series in this country since 1988 and whose hopes of a repeat of their stunning victory over Australia in Brisbane in January have been damaged by an injury to their reliable and quick Kemar Roach.
An attack of Shamar Joseph — star of the Brisbane raid — Alzarri Joseph, Jason Holder, Jayden Seales and left-handed spinner Gudakesh Motie remains strong, but the tourists’ batting looks too reliant on the consistency of captain and opener Kraigg Brathwaite. Anything short of defeat would be a surprise.
It is perhaps inevitable that Anderson will play a major role in his 188th and final Test match.
In a sense, Anderson — who turns 42 later this month — is the victim of a change in perspective
It is perhaps inevitable that Anderson will play a major role in his 188th and final Test match – a match in which he enters with almost as many wickets (700) as the other 21 players put together (784). Stokes said he “totally understood” some of the negative reactions to Anderson’s enforced retirement, but hinted at the ruthlessness that England will hopefully bring all the way to the Gabba in November 2025.
“Sometimes you have to put personal relationships aside because for me the most important thing is what I think is best for the team,” Stokes said. “That’s part of the responsibility of being captain.”
The two men remain on good terms, which is necessary if Anderson is to act as a mentor in the locker room as planned.
Stokes even recently texted him after his 7 for 35 against Nottinghamshire, asking: ‘Did you really have to do that?’ Anderson’s reply: ‘Sorry mate.’ Asked what it was like ‘breaking up’ with Anderson, Stokes said: ‘We’re just talking about who’s going to keep the kids.’
In a sense, Anderson — 42 later this month — is the victim of a shift in perspective. Stokes spent the first two years of his reign stressing the importance of not looking too far ahead. But the lure of the Ashes — as other England captains before him discovered — has changed the emphasis.
“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I’ve been captain for almost four years and I want to go there knowing that we’ve done everything we can in those 18 months to not only compete with Australia but beat them.
“It’s probably the first time you’ve heard me talk like that about something so far away. But I want this team to keep going, so I’m concentrating on that because I want us to go to Australia and win back the Ashes.”
Some will see this as a sign of disrespect to the West Indies. But Stokes insisted that it was perfectly possible to focus on the here and now while planning for the future. Thanks to Anderson, the old era is not quite over yet. Enjoy him while you can.