Ex-England fast bowler James Anderson awarded knighthood in Rishi Sunak's resignation honours
11 April 2025, 15:38
Former England fast bowler James Anderson has been awarded a knighthood in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The 42-year-old retired from Test cricket in July having taken 704 wickets, the most by a fast bowler in Test history.
Anderson, who received an OBE from the Prince of Wales in 2016, is regarded as one of the greatest players.
He is still playing for his county Lancashire but has missed the start of the Rothesay County Championship season with a calf problem.
Only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and the late Shane Warne (708) have more Test wickets than Anderson, who is out of sight among non-spinners and may never be toppled, with closest challenger and former team-mate Stuart Broad retiring last year on 604.
Read more: Manchester United look into claims fans were tear gassed after Europa League draw in Lyon
Read more: Mohamed Salah signs new two-year deal with Liverpool following months of speculation
Anderson made his one-day international debut for England against Australia in December 2002 and his Test bow came in May 2003.
He finished his international career having played 188 Tests and 194 ODIs.
He was nudged into international retirement last summer by England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum with one eye on the future.
However, he thinks he could still be playing for another three years.
He has signed a one-year deal with Lancashire for the County Championship and Vitality Blast and said at the start of the month: "I am not ruling out playing for another one, two or three years. We’ll see how it goes.
"I could get a month in and think 'absolutely not' but I could have a great year, we could win everything and they might want to keep me next year so we’ll just have to wait and see.
"This club is a place I love, they helped me so much at the start of my career and throughout, I feel it’s nice to try and give something back, give myself to them for a season, maybe more."
