James Anderson, the legendary England pacer, is regarded as one of the finest swing bowlers of modern-day cricket. His ability to drop the ball at the right spot and swing it both ways makes him the most prolific seamer currently in cricket. The command that Anderson has on swing bowling, especially on home conditions is undoubtedly a feast for the eyes.
Anderson started his journey when he debuted for Lancashire Cricket Club in December 2001. The ‘Burnley Express’ went on to take 50 First-Class wickets in his first full domestic campaign which includes a 9-wicket haul in a memorable Championship win over Somerset at Blackpool’s Stanley Park.
Known as ‘The King of Swing’ Anderson debuted for England’s Test side in 2003 against Zimbabwe, where he grabbed five wickets in the first innings. Since then, the 37-year-old has taken 584 wickets in his red-ball career, which is the fourth-highest by any bowler and first by any seamer in world cricket.
On the occasion of St George’s Day celebrated as England’s national day, the official Twitter handle of Lancashire Cricket posted a compilation video featuring the greatest moments of Anderson’s Test career, from his first Test wicket to the 500th scalp. The video shows the clips of 1st, 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th, and 500th test wicket.
The first scalp in Anderson’s outstanding career came during his debut game in 2003. Zimbabwe opening batsman Mark Vermeulen was his first Test victim. Anderson bowled a good length delivery which had a hint of late swing, which shattered the defence of Vermeulen.
Five years later, Anderson picked his 100th wicket in the form of none other than the greatest South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis. The right-armer bowled a full delivery which came in sharply, and Kallis was adjudged lbw.
Two years down the line in December 2010, Anderson reached 200 Test wicket-benchmark when he sent Australian Peter Siddle back to the pavilion during the Ashes. In 2013, Kiwi batsman Peter Fulton became Anderson’s 300th Test victim. Another short of a good length delivery carrying an outside edge straight into the hands of the second slip fielder and removing Fulton from the equation.
Another golden moment came in Anderson’s career when in April 2015, he went passed Sir Ian Botham’s tally of 383 wickets. Jimmy’s 384th scalp was West Indies’ Dinesh Ramdin. It was nothing but beauty. A typical Anderson delivery, bowled just at the right spot, carrying the outside edge, grabbed by Alastair Cook.
Then the crowd in New Zealand witnessed Anderson reaching another landmark of 400 Test scalps. It came in 2015 when Anderson bowled an outstanding delivery to Martin Guptill, which took the edge as usual and went straight to the slip cordon.
During the Lord’s Test in September 2017, Anderson hit the 500 wicket mark by dislodging the stumps of West Indies’ player Kraigg Brathwaite.
Here is the video:
The greatest English bowler ever. 👑
🏴 #StGeorgesDay @jimmy9 pic.twitter.com/IeKYawCIUF
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) April 23, 2020
One year later, Anderson went past Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563, when he dismissed India’s Mohammad Shami.
The moment @jimmy9 became the most profilic quick bowler in Test history!
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/oC6HGlm9nh#EngvInd #ThankYouChef pic.twitter.com/OJpuOTnwEO
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 11, 2018
