Cricket-West Indies miss Anderson guard of honour as run out celebration goes too far

(Reuters) – West Indies intended to give England’s James Anderson a guard of honour when he came out to bat at Lord’s in his last test on Thursday, but their plan was foiled by a run out celebration that took most players too far down the field.

Mikyle Louis got Shoaib Bashir out with a direct throw and ran to his brother Jeremiah, a member of the squad but not in the playing eleven, at the boundary to celebrate.

Most of the team joined them and were far away when Anderson walked out on to the field, which stretches 230 meters North to West. Captain Jason Holder, however, greeted 41-year-old Anderson, the third-highest wicket taker in test cricket, with a handshake.

“We spoke about it before he came out to bat, that we were going to give him a guard of honour,” West Indies bowler Jayden Seales told reporters.

“Obviously the run out took us all the way down to Swiss Cottage, so it was pretty hard to do the guard of honour for the great man. Luckily, Jason caught up with him.”

Anderson did not face a ball as England ended their first innings at 371 with a 250-run lead, but took two wickets later on, taking his tally to 703 as West Indies ended the second day at 79-6.

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)