James Michael Anderson

International Career

James Anderson is the most exceptional swing pace bowler in the history of cricket and the finest cultivation of English cricket ever. “Age is just a number” - he had always proved it as generally, any cricketer retires in their late thirties but Anderson set an absolute example despite being a pacer. He was born on July 30, 1982, in Burnley, England, while his tall height, England’s environment, and pitch forced him naturally to emerge as a pace bowler. He had continued playing for more than two decades which is nothing but a wonder in the history of cricket for any pace bowler.

In his early days, his sheer pace with gifted swing on both sides made his way butter-smooth in domestic cricket which eventually gave him a chance to make his debut in international cricket for England. Over time, he had proved himself again and again on the domestic and international pitches. Now let’s look into the journey of his international career at a glance:

• December 15, 2002:Anderson debuted ODI in the big match of Australia vs England at Melbourne. He took his first international wicket by bowling to Australia’s legendary keeper-batter, Adam Gilchrist.
• May 22, 2003:A few months later, he debuted for the England test team at Lord's against Zimbabwe. His test debut was so impressive and he achieved a 5 wicket haul with an economy of 4.56.
• ICC 2010 T20 World Cup:He was a member of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2010. England made its first-ever ICC title by beating Australia in the final. He had closely watched the victory of England although he was not included in the playing XI.
• Ashes (2006-2023):He had played 39 matches from 2006 to 2023 in Ashes. This is one of the toughest test battles in the history of world cricket and he proved himself in this stage for years after years. His performance was too impressive with a total of 117 wickets. It made him the 8th in the list of most wicket-takers of all time in the ashes. His bowling contribution left a significant impact on England to clinch the win against Australia.

• April 17, 2015: He had passed the mark of Sir Ian Botham’s record of 383 test wickets in April 2015. This made him the highest test match wicket-taker of all time. From there, he continuously crossed the mark of 400 wickets,500 wickets, 600 wickets, and 700 wickets over time.

• August 25, 2020: He crossed the mark of taking 600 wickets on August 25, 2020, against Pakistan which led to the only fast bowler to take 600 or more wickets.

• March 9, 2024: He took his 700th test wicket in Dharamshala on the India tour, making him the first pacer in test cricket to reach this milestone.

• July 12, 2024: Anderson retired on 12th July 2024 from international cricket at the age of 42 which was incredible. It was not so easy to maintain the fitness level at this age, especially for a pace bowler. Despite being a pacer, he continued his journey for the England Cricket team and gave them so many titles while becoming the greatest pace bowler of all time.

Indian Premier League

James Anderson achieved his ultimate heroism in red-ball cricket, while his entire devotion to long-format games compelled him to sacrifice his white-ball cricketer. Also as an asset for English cricket in test cricket, Anderson has always been kept gently aside from the T20 cricket by the ECB. This cost him nothing but to sacrifice his T20 career including the most insane league of the world, IPL. Anderson never participated in the IPL in his career to maintain his fitness and to stay away from the injury.

Domestic Career

He debuted in first class for Lancashire in the year 2002 where he took 50 wickets out of 13 matches. In 2003 he was the youngest player to make a hat trick for Lancashire before making a debut in international cricket. He took a 10-wicket halt in May 2004 in first-class cricket against Worcestershire. He took more than a thousand wickets in first-class cricket and told the story of his domestic career. He grabbed 1126 wickets from 298 first-class matches and 358 wickets in 261 List A matches. Overall his domestic performance was magnificent and made him a great domestic bowler in England. He played his last List A match on May 122019 against Hampshire. His contributions to Lancashire cricket are immense, with the bowler often mentoring younger players and sharing his wealth of experience.

Records and Achievement

James Anderson’s career is decorated with numerous records that underscore his greatness as a cricketer. He holds mostly different test records related to his bowling performances. Some of his awards and key records are mentioned below.

Awards:

Being the finest test cricket for England for decades, Anderson earned some precious awards in his career. Let us have a closer look at them.

• Anderson was nominated as one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 2009.
• He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to cricket in 2015. He received the award on 11 February 2016.
• His name was included in the ICC Test Team of the Year multiple times (2010,2011,2013,2017,2022).

Records:

James achieved some awesome and inhuman records that any fast bowler can only daydream. Here are a few of the numerous records of his career:

• He is the most wicket-taker for England with a total of 991 wickets.
• Leading 3rd wicket-taker of all time in Test cricket history with over 700 wickets.
• Most wickets in a Test match career for an English bowler.
• He had played the 2nd most test matches in a career after the Cricket’s God Sachin Tendulkar.
• He was the first pace bowler to achieve the 600 wicket milestone.
• Holds the record for the most matches played by a fast bowler in Test cricket.
• 7th Most five test wickets in an innings in a career.
• He had the most wickets taken by a wicketkeeper in test matches.
• He is the 3rd fastest test bowler to take 700 wickets.
• He had the longest test career of 21 years 53 days. (after 1990).
• He was the first test bowler to bowl above forty thousand deliveries (40037).
• He had 32 five-wicket hauls, the highest for England in test cricket.
• Interestingly he holds the record for most not-outs in test cricket history with 114 not-outs.

• Partnership with Stuart Broad: Anderson and Broad formed the most successful bowling partnership in Test cricket history, with over 1,000 wickets between them.

Personal Life

He was born on 30 July 1982 and his schooling was started at RC High School in Burnley where he also started cricket at Burnley Cricket Club. His father Micheal was the captain of the club's second XI. Having a cricketing culture in the house, he developed his keen interest in the “Gentleman’s Game” from his early childhood, which eventually turned him into one of the finest fast bowlers in the Lancashire Leagues. He had also worked in the ticket office of Burnley as a part-time job. He had started a venture in fashion design in 2012. He was the face of Hairbond in 2013 (a British hair styling brand) and also worked with Chess London menswear brand.