ENG vs WI | Twitter emotional as Windies honour Anderson with guard of honour amidst rousing Lord's ovation

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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21 years in the Test arena, over 40,000 deliveries, 700-plus wickets, and countless memorable performances -- all of it seemed to distill down to one spectacular moment at Lord's on Wednesday. The retiring James Anderson was once again the center of attention and love before play began on Day 3.

‌England and West Indies seemed to take the field on Friday as a mere formality with the result of the first Test pretty much a foregone conclusion. At Stumps the previous evening, the Windies had ended on a pitiful 79/6 after having conceded a 250-run deficit earlier in the encounter. Day 3 was thus essentially earmarked to be James Anderson's final as an England Test player and the emotions attached to the occasion were on full display before the action began at a packed Lord's.

All 21 players barring the English quick walked out onto the ground a couple minutes before the scheduled start and the two teams lined up facing each other with a corridor between them. Anderson then walked onto the hallowed field and was subject to beaming applause from his colleageus and counterparts while the Lord's stood as one to applaud a magnificent career. Anderson's face seemed to break into an involuntary huge grin and the emotions were more than evident on his face as he thanked Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite for the honour.

Twitterati was no less emotional than the retiring cricketer, who had already added a 704th Test scalp to his name in the first half hour of play, and took their time paying trribute to one of cricket's greats.

End of an era

Age defying

Fan things

Lucky enough

Leading the way

Last dance

What a player

Beauty

Final walk

Wonerful player

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