England's James Anderson gets warmed up during a training session at Lord's in England on Tuesday — Collected LONDON, July 09 (AFP): England great James Anderson hopes future players will relish the challenge of Test cricket rather than just go "chasing the dollar" as he prepares to bow out of the five-day game against the West Indies.
The series opener at Lord's, starting on Wednesday, will be the Lancashire paceman's 188th and final Test match after a record-breaking career spanning two decades.
England cut short speculation about their side for the first of a three-Test series by naming their XI on Monday -- two days before the start of Wednesday's match.
No fast bowler has taken more than Anderson's 700 Test wickets and only India batting hero Sachin Tendulkar has played more matches (200) in the format.
The cricketing landscape has radically changed since Anderson, 41, made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in 2003.
Cricketers no longer have to become established at Test level to enjoy successful careers. With the advent of lucrative Twenty20 franchise tournaments, notably the Indian Premier League, they can earn a lot more money for a lot less work.
For fast bowlers in particular, the rewards of shorter-form cricket are particularly enticing as the workload is much lighter.
But Anderson told reporters at Lord's on Monday that the longest version of the game had shaped him.
"Test cricket is literally the reason that I am the person that I am," he said.
"It has taught me so many lessons through the years, built my resilience to a lot of things. I think the fulfilment you get from putting in a shift in a day's cricket is different to anything else you can do in the game."
Anderson cut short his time in white-ball cricket to extend his Test career.
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