by James Anderson became only the third bowler and the first fast bowler to take 700 wickets in Test cricket, as England did in Dharamsala.
Playing his 187th Test, Anderson, 41, was caught by Ben Foakes behind Kuldeep Yadav. His muted celebration was both a relief – it took him eight overs to take the last 15 wickets – but also England’s desperate state of play. Soon after Kuldeep was caught behind, India were dismissed for 477, an opening peak of 259.
Although only a few thousand England fans were in the ground to toast the moment, Anderson’s father, Michael, was among them.
Anderson joins Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (708) in the exclusive 700 club.
He will be the first fast bowler to achieve it, and there is every chance he will be the last, given the scale of the feat and the shrinking schedule of Test cricket.
To mark the occasion, Telegraph Sport spoke to five great fast bowlers from five different countries about Anderson’s achievement.
Michael Holding, West Indies, 1975-1987
249 test wickets at 23.7
Regardless of how well Jimmy manages, or what era he’s playing in, the man is 41 … years … old. He is running up and bowling fast, and bowling fast is hard work, no matter how easy someone might think it is.
Many fast bowlers from the past, even if he had the management, would not have lasted this long. And no other fast bowler of his era suffered, with his management, as he did. When Courtney Walsh was doing it in her late thirties, I thought ‘this guy has a certain discipline and he’s unique’. Jimmy the years have passed! I played 60 Tests and I was done, physically.
I remember Jimmy from the start, with that red streak in his hair, covering close to 100 of his Tests for Sky. One thing I love about him is that his overseas record was normal to begin with. But he greatly improved that overseas record by adding new skills. You wouldn’t expect a player to improve as they get older. Maybe maintain your level, but not improve.
Jimmy’s greatest skill is his discipline. Every day he looks in control of what he’s doing, and there are very few fast bowlers like that. People have tricks, speed, skill, but you can’t survive without incredible control like his. I can always tell when he’s not 100 percent fit, because that’s the only time he ever loses any control.
A word to Stuart Broad, too. They complemented each other, which hurt batsmen. You need partnerships in bowling, which has been true throughout the ages. The West Indies team was unique in the 1980s because we had so many bowlers, but they were usually pairs. The one great fast bowler who didn’t have another great bowler at the other end was Richard Hadlee.
700 is a terrifying figure. When Fred Trueman set the world record for fast bowlers, no one expected a fast bowler to surpass him. It was a cyclist first, Lance Gibbs. And to hear that a fast bowler has now taken 700 wickets… that is a miracle.
Richard Hadlee, New Zealand 1973-1990
431 test wickets at 22.3
Jimmy Anderson reaching 700 wickets is a great achievement, and a proud moment for him, English cricket and the world game. He has shown real resilience and stamina along with great agility. He mesmerized many of the world’s best batsmen with his control of swing (both ways) and nippy pace, with that simple, effective, repeatable action.
I finished as a test cricketer just after my 39th birthday. It took me over 17 years to play 86 Tests, as New Zealand usually played six each year (three home, three away. I only played in two four-Test series.
That cricket diet meant I was motivated and motivated to keep playing as long as possible, especially as Ian Botham’s world record of 373 wickets (achieved in 1988), while on the first bowler with 400 wickets (which I then managed). 1990) in my view. After that, I had scaled my Everest, and I knew that the trip to England in 1990 would be my last.
I relied on peak fitness and bowling to play that long. I rarely used gyms (I didn’t like them), but I did run and sprint work which gave me a flexible body as well as stretching. For the last 10 years of my career I had a shortened run up, and a simple repeatable technique, which also contributed to my longevity.
But by 39, I was finding it increasingly difficult to recover from a big day of bowling and put in the same effort the day after. There wasn’t enough time for my body to get over any aches, pains or niggles. I knew it was time to retire!
Jimmy has been playing more tests every year, for more years, and he is older. It is quite significant.
330 test wickets at 22.3
The words that immediately come to mind are ridiculous and impressive. I wonder how Jimmy is still going. The skill will not leave him, but keep the energy, intensity and incredible desire. He is so tough fast bowling in India, and he is still taking wickets and making the ball do the talking. He’s really unstoppable and although you never say never, I can’t see another fast bowler taking 700 wickets.
I was nearing the end of my career at the 2003 World Cup, when he burst onto the scene. I vividly remember being in our team hotel and watching England play Pakistan at Newlands, with Jimmy producing a sublime display of swing bowling at great pace. He had a great hairstyle then, and they never end either!
In 2007 I did a four month spell as England bowling coach. Jimmy was still so young then and I thought he had incredible skills, but he was a bit oily and he was trying to do too much with the ball, finding huge swings in and out. That’s one of the many great things about watching him now, the understanding and mastery of his craft that he’s developed. He uses the crease so well, swinging the ball from wide, from close, and he doesn’t try too hard. Even then, he did his homework so well, and was a great student of the game.
I now coach the Lions in South Africa, and just the other week I played our fast bowling clips of Jimmy, showing how he set up bats and always had a plan. He is as patient as his stock ball, waiting to unleash the changeup as a big inswinger at the right moment. I said if these guys want to learn how to swing bowl, they had to watch Jimmy.
Stuart Broad, England 2007-2023
604 test wickets at 27.6
I had the privilege of going out at midday for 138 Tests with Jimmy. I’ve never been in a Rolls Royce, but that’s what I imagine being in the passenger seat of a Roller. Everything is so smooth in the approach, there is no great force through the action, and there are no jolty, exaggerated movements.
With a milestone like this, it’s easy to talk about dedication and sacrifices. Of course that’s a lot for Jimmy, but you have to combine it with a truly elite level of skill to deliver as consistently as he has for so long.
There were times when I watched him, especially at Lord’s when the ball was swinging, in complete awe, thinking “this guy is so skilled he can’t play”. That said, the one game that stands out is Trent Bridge in 2013, when he stood up and won the game on his own. People remember the last wicket, Brad Haddin with DRS, but that was the 10th of the match on a slow, dry surface, on a classic English pitch. He used his full range, including getting Michael Clarke’s incredible off-cutter.
Jimmy’s record keeps getting better, but he’s not someone who’s been on a steep upward graph all his life. Look at last summer, when his future was questioned. At those times he has such a deep belief and understanding of what he needs to do to compete at the top, that even after seven months out of the game, he returned to India as he was playing every week .
How did Jimmy do it? The way I would describe his approach is a healthy addiction. You hear stories about Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the two men ahead of him, and people say he was completely obsessed, living and breathing the game and watching every moment he could. Jimmy is not like that. He loves the game, but he likes time away from it and has other interests. He is a physically meticulous preparer, but not a nerd or crazy stats researcher. He hardly needs to do research, because he has seen it all, knows exactly what his plans are, and works on new problems so quickly.
Pat Cummins, Australia 2011-present
263 Test wickets at 22.4
It’s just an insane number when you think about him picking up four wickets per Test as a rough average across so many games and so many years.
I’ve always found Jimmy to be a very tough competitor. You can always tell that he wants the ball in his hand and he can adapt to the conditions beautifully.
As a fast bowler, you are always looking to pick up little things from anywhere you can, including opponents. I have always admired and been interested in the way Jimmy uses swing. He’s a guy who can swing it a lot, but shows real restraint with how much he swings it, knowing that a little movement can be more dangerous than a huge hoop.
His use of the seam is great too, and he’s always trying to perfect it.
What I liked most about Jimmy was his longevity and adaptability. Obviously playing Test cricket is tough enough, but doing it as long as Jimmy is a fast bowler is not unheard of.
The other layer is that as a Test cricketer you only play about half of your matches at home. So he is best known and remembered for his spells with the Dukes swing ball in England, but his ability to adapt and evolve and be effective anywhere in the world is amazing.
Could I still be dating at 42? [Laughs]. I do not think so. Forget about keeping your skills up to date, I don’t see a 41 year old still having the body to bowl in test cricket. Great great great.
