James Anderson, one of the most successful bowlers in the history of Test cricket turns 39 today. The right arm pacer has played 162 Test matches so far and has claimed 617 Test wickets at 26.27. Anderson has 30 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket. The swing king has bagged 269 ODI wickets from 194 matches at 29.22. In 19 T20Is, he picked 18 wickets.
Let’s look at some of his records and achievements in international cricket
1. James Anderson is the highest wicket-taker among pacers in Test cricket (617). The next best pacer on the list is Glenn McGrath with 563 wickets.
2. In 2016, Anderson became the first fast bowler to take 50 wickets against all 7 major Test-playing nations.
3. Anderson is the only fast bowler to take 300+ Test wickets on home soil.
4. He is the first pace bowler, and the second player (after Muttiah Muralitharan) overall, to take 100 Test wickets at a single venue (at Lord’s).
5. Anderson holds the record for the most wickets taken caught by a wicketkeeper (168).
6. Earlier this month, James Anderson became the 14th player and just the fifth seamer to reach 1,000 first-class wickets this century.
7. Recently, Anderson broke the record of Alaister Cook (161) for the most Test matches played for England (162). Overall, he is 7th on the list in terms of most test matches played in career.
8. In the 2003 World Cup, he became the first England pacer to take a hat-trick in ODIs. He achieved this feat against Pakistan, where he dismissed Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, and Mohammad Sami.
