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 Anderson had 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.
The young pace bowler who started by troubling the opposition batters with slight swing, mastered the art to swing the ball both ways eventually. Also, he learned the art of reversing the old ball and added some variations to his arsenal becoming the complete fast bowler. The right-arm pacer was equally effective in the ODIs as well concluding his 50-over career as the highest wicket-taker for the country.
The fitness of the pace bowlers usually declines with time but Anderson aged like a fine wine. The pacer was keen on continuing his Test career but England wanted to move on from him to look at the future. Although England is now building a new pace attack, Andersons’s contribution is etched in the annals of English cricket forever. The blond-haired boy made his debut against Zimbabwe in Test cricket and will sign off his career as a sportsman who displayed that when there is a will, there is way.
Some of the records by James Anderson The second-highest number of Test matches (188) after Sachin Tendulkar.
Most wickets (198) were caught by a wicketkeeper.
First Pacer to Take 700 Test wickets.
Most wickets against India taking 149 wickets from just 39 fixtures. Also, he has taken the most wickets (45) in India.
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