James Anderson: nobody before you, nobody after you
Abhijit Singh Bhambra
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While watching the movie 3 Idiots, a particular scene where Virus, a character played by Boman Irani while addressing the students, asked a question—who was the first man to walk on the moon?—the unanimous answer was America's Neil Armstrong. But who was the second, to which there was no answer? That's how cricket record books and history will remember England's James Anderson.
Jimmy, fondly called by his teammates, climbed Mount 700 on Day 3 of the picturesque Dharamshala on March 9, 2024. He achieved the feat by dismissing India's Kuldeep Yadav, caught by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes behind the stumps. With this, James Anderson became the first pacer to reach the landmark in Test cricket's 147-year-long history. He now also joins only two other bowlers—Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's Shane Warne—to have taken 700 Test wickets or more.
Over the last 21 years, a lot has changed. James Anderson made his debut under Nasser Hussain against Zimbabwe at Lord's Way back in 2003. Since then, Jimmy has played under eight different captains, including Hussain. Alastair Cook has captained him the most number of times—49, to be exact—followed by Joe Root with 46 matches.
Captains have come and gone, eras have exchanged hands, but one thing that has remained constant is James Anderson bowling from one end for England. He has bowled over 6400 overs in Test cricket and has managed to script plenty of milestone moments over the last two decades.
James Anderson's Milestone Moments
1st Test wicket - Mark Vermeulen, Zimbabwe, Lord's, 2003
100th wicket - Jacques Kallis, South Africa, The Oval, 2008
200th wicket - Peter Siddle, Australia, Perth, 2010-11
300th wicket - Peter Fulton, New Zealand, Lord's, 2013
384th wicket - Denesh Ramdin, West Indies, Antigua, 2014-15 (breaks Sir Ian Botham's record of most Test wickets for England)
400th wicket - Martin Guptill, New Zealand, Headingley, 2015
500th wicket - Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies, Lord's, 2017
564th wicket - Md Shami, India, 2018 (Breaks Glenn McGrath's record of 563 Test wickets)
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600th wicket - Azhar Ali, Pakistan, Ageas Bowl, 2020
700th wicket - Kuldeep Yadav, India, Dharamshala, 2024
Talking about the 700th Test wicket, Muralidharan reached the milestone in his 113th Test, while Warne took 144 matches to achieve the feat. Jimmy reached the milestone in his 187th test. Only India's Sachin Tendulkar (200) has played more Tests than the England pacer.
More than the numbers, more than the milestones, and even more than the records James Anderson has achieved in his career, one can't ignore the longevity he has had in his Test career while playing for England. Just imagine that a fast bowler surviving at the highest level for 21 years is unheard of. To play as many Test matches as Jimmy has played for England shows his love for the sport, the fact that he is a competitor at the highest level, and his commitment to English cricket.
"Amazing to be on the field. 700 wickets as a seamer is phenomenal. He's someone every young kids looks up to and want to emulate. He's as fit as I've ever seen him. Great to watch." Ben Stokes said at the end of the Dharamshala Test.
From bowling to the likes of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Babar Azam, and now to the likes of Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan—with James Anderson, there is always 100 percent effort, and it doesn't matter who he is bowling to.
Credit must be given where it is due. The 700th Test wicket milestone is a massive salute to keeping his body in shape, relentless hours behind the scenes to work on his fitness, and most importantly, the hunger to compete at the international level. His wicket-taking capacity might have slowed down, but his attitude to compete and give nothing away hasn't changed one bit.
James Anderson's feats in a nutshell:
Test cricket has seen some of the greatest fast bowlers operate across eras. Where does Jimmy rate among the greats? He will certainly go down as one of the best pacers the cricket world has ever seen. Many were better than him, maybe skill-wise, pace-wise, but could not last beyond a decade or so.
How far and how long can he go on? Only James Anderson can answer this question. His retirement from the game has been a matter of speculation for over four years now. Don't be surprised if he carries on for another couple of years and shatters a few more records before calling it a day.
(The author is a cricket expert and has worked as a sports writer for broadcast and multimedia platforms for nearly a decade.)