“James Anderson likely to receive knighthood in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list”

Following his inclusion on the resignation honours list of former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, James Anderson is expected to be knighted in honour of his record-breaking 21-year England career.

After taking a national record 704 Test wickets in 188 Test matches—the most ever by a specialist fast bowler and second only to India’s Sachin Tendulkar—James Anderson, 42, announced his retirement from England duty last year. After making his debut at Lord’s as a 20-year-old against Zimbabwe in May 2003, he played his final Test match against the West Indies in July 2024.

Despite not playing white-ball cricket for England since 2015, he still leads the nation in ODI wicket-taking (269 at 29.22 average). He finished with 991, just short of 1,000 wickets for his nation, after taking an additional 18 wickets in T20Is.

James Anderson has not yet ended his professional career, despite his accomplishments. Despite his calf injury, he is expected to play in a variety of formats for Lancashire this summer. This implies that he still has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Sir Alastair Cook, his long-time England teammate, who continued to play for Essex following his own knighthood in 2019.

“Congratulations, Sir Jimmy Anderson,” said ECB chair Richard Thompson in response to the news. An England legend who has contributed greatly to our sport deserves this distinction.

“Jimmy’s career has been characterised by remarkable accomplishments, including becoming England’s all-time top wicket-taker and winning the Ashes four times. Millions of cricket players and fans in England and throughout the world have been inspired by his talent, tenacity, and sportsmanship.

“This is fitting recognition for a true world-great who has given so much to the game on and off the pitch.”

Known for being an avid cricket enthusiast, Sunak served as prime minister until the 2024 general election. He faced Anderson in the nets at The Oval in April of last year while launching a £35 million government investment in amateur cricket.

James Anderson stands out among five other knighthoods on a list of resignation honours.

The fifth has been given to filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, while the other four have been given to Sunak’s former cabinet colleagues James Cleverley, Jeremy Hunt, Grant Shapps, and Mel Stride.

When Anderson retired to England, the accolade was generally expected. His former captain, Andrew Strauss, who was knighted in 2019, stated in a statement last year that it would be greatly deserved given his accomplishments.

“Very much so!” The night before James Anderson last Test, Strauss stated. “I think any fast bowler that plays 188 Test matches deserves a knighthood, I’ll put it that way.”

In recent years, James Anderson is the second former England cricket player to get an accolade from a departing Conservative prime minister. Theresa May’s plan to knight her boyhood idol, Geoffrey Boycott, in 2019 sparked controversy because Boycott was found guilty of domestic abuse by a French court in 1998.