It is a moment that perfectly encapsulates just how revered Jimmy Anderson is by the English cricketing public.

Less than an hour after Anderson closed the curtain on an incredible career that saw him become the first seam bowler to pass 700 wickets in Test cricket following the first Test of the summer against the West Indies, he wandered out on to the Lord’s balcony.

There, Anderson was greeted by thousands of fans scattered across the outfield, ready to pay their respects.

It was a scene fitting of a coronation of a royal - and perhaps this was the coronation of England’s greatest ever bowler - and after some encouragement, Anderson swiftly necked the pint of Guinness he had in his hand to much acclaim, before returning to the dressing room in the same laid-back nature that he had gone about taking endless wickets across the previous 21 years.

‘I wasn’t planning on downing a pint on the balcony,’ Anderson jokes to Mail Sport. ‘But I just wanted to go out and see what the outfield looked like, it was incredible.

‘I didn't really know what to expect going into that week, but to see the size of the crowds there, and the reaction that I got walking through the long room, I was amazed and delighted with how that Test went.

‘It was really an amazing few days and just a special occasion, especially with my family and friends there.’

Anderson slipped into a coaching and mentoring role for England’s bowlers for the final two Tests against the West Indies, a position he will fulfil for the upcoming Sri Lanka series.

In his position, Anderson is overseeing a hugely exciting group of English quicks, and although Gus Atkinson stole the headlines with an exceptional debut series, he is just latest to emerge from a crop of talents that includes the likes of Matt Potts, Dillon Pennington and Josh Tongue.

There is also hope Jofra Archer and Olly Stone will be able to shake off their recent injury issues and return to the Test arena.

For Anderson, it has been something different but he has relished the challenge. ‘I’ve really enjoyed still being around the group,’ he says.

‘I found the switch relatively straightforward, because it’s probably been my job for the last 10 or so years, being a senior bowler in the team and helping the other guys by leading the attack on the field and also trying to help new guys settle in.

‘It's always nice to win Test matches, and I still get a lot of satisfaction out of being part of it.'

Anderson is speaking to Mail Sport as part of the ECB's campaign to promote both schools' and grassroots cricket, particularly after the previous Conservative government promised £35million worth of investment in this field in April.

The England icon learnt his trade at Burnley Cricket Club, who are ultimately responsible for him becoming one of the best bowlers in the world - and Anderson couldn’t be stronger in his support for the cause.

‘Coming from where I came from, I was lucky to get into cricket in the first place,’ he explains. ‘My school didn't have the facilities or equipment to play, so I was lucky that my dad played for the local club.

‘Cricket has had such a big impact on my life and me as a person, so I feel passionate that more children get the opportunity to play it and it's just a brilliant sport to be a part of.’

As ever with English cricket, talk turns towards the Ashes despite there still being more than 15 months to go, yet Anderson is optimistic for the task at hand.

‘I definitely think we have a good chance,’ he adds. ‘There’s plenty of depth on the bowling front and the important thing is to cover as many bases as possible.

‘Shoaib Bashir has been brilliant on the spin front and Jack Leach, who unfortunately has missed out this summer so far, has got a wealth of experience as a second spinner.

‘And then the seamers, it's trying to get a balance of pace and skill as well. You still need to have good skills going out to somewhere like Australia.

‘Last time, we saw the pitches were quite seamer friendly and moved around a bit. So you need to be consistent with your lines and lengths, as well as having the ability to bowl quick and it feels like there's a really nice balance and a bit of everything.’

Anderson was part of England’s memorable 3-1 triumph down under in 2010-11, which remains the country’s only Ashes triumph in Australia since 1986.

Back then, the 42-year-old dominated the series by topping the wicket-taking charts with 24 dismissals during a period that remains one of the best for England fans this century.

But, what was the key 13 years ago and can Anderson see similarities with Ben Stokes’ side?

‘I think we were fortunate that the majority of the squad had played quite a lot of Test cricket together,’ he explains.

‘And also, we were all peaking at the right time and lots of guys probably had their best series of their careers like Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott.

‘On the bowling front we just had a good group that really suited the conditions at the time, with a class spinner in Graham Swann.

‘Everything seemed to click at the right time and I think that's the most important thing.

‘There's plenty of Test cricket before then, with a big series against India next summer, which, if we can do well in that, it’ll stand us in good stead for that Ashes.’

By moving to coaching Anderson has joined several of his former England team-mates in sharing his knowledge with the game and one in particular in Andrew Flintoff has garnered much attention in recent times.

After recovering from a potentially fatal car crash while filming Top Gear in 2022, Flintoff has heartwarmingly returned to the sport where he made his name over the past year, working with various England teams, with the former all-rounder widely praised for the impact he has had.

The next step came this summer, with Flintoff in charge of the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, leading to many tipping him to replace Matthew Mott as England’s white-ball coach.

‘I think he definitely would be a good fit,’ Anderson explains. ‘I don't know if now is the right time for him as coaching is something that he's fairly new to.

‘He's only just come into that head coach role, but I'm sure it will be on both his and England's radar for the future.’

For now, Anderson’s focus is on the upcoming Sri Lanka series, but the 42-year-old has also done lots of media work over recent years, while he showed he’s still got what it takes to continue playing for Lancashire after picking up match figures of 8-64 in his only game for the Red Rose this season - and there could even be a shock return to white-ball franchise cricket.

But, what is the plan for Anderson? ‘I’m keeping my options fairly open at the minute,’ he adds.

‘I'll see the summer out with England, and then take it from there. There's time for me to get to grips with what I want to do, whether that's play for Lancashire or elsewhere (including franchise cricket), or the media stuff and things like that.

‘So yeah, I don't really know what I want to do yet. I was quite happy actually seeing Andy Murray when he retired at the Olympics saying he hasn't got a clue what he's going to do next.

‘It's nice to hear someone else not be sure, because it can be difficult, and a difficult thing to transition to something else when you spend most of your life doing one thing.

‘Retirement hasn’t really sunk in yet so I'm just going to take my time with it and not rush into anything.’

Jimmy Anderson was speaking as part of the ECB’s latest campaign to support more people to find their way to play cricket, no matter if that is at home, in school or in the community. More information on the campaign and local opportunities to play cricket can be found at www.ecb.co.uk/play.