Ahead of his 188th and final Test appearance which begins at Lord's on Wednesday against the West Indies, James Anderson is "at peace" with his impending retirement.

The 41-year-old England pacer's international career will end at the same venue where he had taken a five-for on Test debut against Zimbabwe in 2003.

"I'm trying not to think much about the game itself yet or how I'd feel about it. I'm trying to be as focused as I can.

"The big thing for me this week is wanting to play well, bowl well and get a win. That's what I'm trying to focus on really. I'm sure the emotions during the week will change, but right now, that's what I'm trying to focus on, to stop myself (from) crying," Anderson said in London on Monday.

"It's been a strange couple of months. I feel pretty happy with where things are now and am pretty excited for the week as well.

"I think having quite a few friends and family come down for the week is good. I've had a lot of people who've stopped me in the street or met out and about saying that they're coming to the game. I'm just excited for the week," he added.

Before the start of the season, Anderson was told by the England management that they were planning to move on. That happened a few days after the Dharamsala Test against India back in March, where Anderson reached his milestone of 700 Test wickets.

Admitting he didn't have much say in the team management's decision, Anderson said: "It's difficult to say. I've not really got a choice.

"It was important for me that I try and put in some good performances to finish with. I can completely understand the decision and the way the team and the management want to go. As I've said, in the last couple of months, I've made peace with that and I'm excited to see what the future holds."

Anderson though will remain in the England dressing room this summer as a team mentor and is expected to go into coaching. But as far as his retirement is concerned, he had not been thinking about it till the meeting with the "three big dogs" (England men's managing director Rob Key, Test head coach Brendon McCullum and Test captain Ben Stokes) earlier in the year.

"When the three big dogs invited me to a hotel in Manchester for a chat, I didn't think it was just a normal appraisal. I had a suspicion that it (retirement) was going to be the case. I think they were surprised at how calm I was when I reacted. I was probably surprised at my reaction. I wasn't overly emotional or angry," Anderson said.