Hyderabad: A smooth run-up, an art to swing the ball both ways, an ability to reverse the ball and longevity good enough to stretch the career to its last shred. It’s a perfect recipe to become one of the great Test bowlers and James Andersonhad successfully cooked that recipe when England kicked off the first Test of the three-match series against West Indies.
The lanky speedster contributed with just four wickets in the win taking 23% of the total wickets scalped by the team. But, his contribution of 703 Test wickets from 188 matches in a career that spanned 21 years is a testament to his ability and what makes him great over other contemporaries. He shared the dressing room with 109 teammates during his Test career. Now, life has come full circle for Anderson who will end his red-ball journey where he also embarked on the Test journey- at the iconic Lord's in London.
The right-arm pacer made his ODI debut in 2002 against Australia and made his maiden Test appearance in 2003 in a match against Zimbabwe. Mark Vermeulen was his first Test wicket.
For the first five years, Anderson was consistently in and out of the team till 2007 which included a remarkable spell against Pakistan in the 2003 ODI World Cup. But, after 2007 it was a brand new Anderson who was wreaking havoc with a new ball and was a different beast on the 22 yards.
During his initial years of struggle, the coaching management tweaked Anderson’s bowling action a bit which resulted in his loss of confidence and form. But once he came up with a reformed action, he regained his rhythm. To sum up, during his period till 2007, Anderson was unplayable when the playing conditions suited his bowling style but when the conditions were not in his favour he was just horrid.
The Wellington Test of 2008 was the fixture that kicked off Anderson’s dream run. He picked a five-wicket haul after replacing Matthew Hoggard for a place in the playing XI. The 41-year-old went on to take 34 wickets across seven Tests in the home summer. The Lancashire pacer soon became the spearhead of the English pace bowling unit. Between the home summer of 2008 and the 2013/14 tour of Australia, Anderson scalped 273 wickets from 70 Tests. Anderson continued to be the shining armour in the English bowling unit for the next 10 years scalping 357 wickets from 95 red-ball games.