LONDON: England great James Anderson will play his 188th and last Test before retirement against the West Indies at Lord’s this week.
No other fast bowler has taken more than the 41-year-old’s 700 Test wickets, with only spinners Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800) ahead of Anderson in the all-time list.
Here, AFP Sport looks at the landmark wickets of Anderson’s remarkable Test career:
Test wicket No 1: Mark Vermeulen (ZIM), Lord’s 2003:
A perfectly pitched off-cutter proves too much for the opener and Test debutant Anderson is up and running.
Test wicket No 100: Jacques Kallis (RSA), The Oval 2008:
A back-up bowler in the early years of his Test career, Anderson eventually becomes the leader of England’s attack and reaches an important landmark when he has star all-rounder Kallis lbw for two.
Test wicket No 200: Peter Siddle (AUS), Perth 2010/11
By now a cornerstone of the England side, Anderson brings up his double century of wickets in the team’s only defeat in an otherwise triumphant Ashes series when an outswinger does for Siddle.
Test wicket No 300: Peter Fulton (NZL), Lord’s 2013
Another outswinger, another edge to the slips that sets up a five-wicket haul, proves too much for the towering Fulton – dubbed ‘Two-metre Peter’.
Test wicket No 384: Denesh Ramdin (WIS), Antigua 2014/15
Anderson surpasses Ian Botham as England’s most successful bowler in Test cricket when West Indies wicketkeeper Ramdin edged a leg-cutter to first slip.
Test wicket No 400: Martin Guptill (NZL), Headingley 2015
Anderson joins increasingly elite company when Guptill nicks off to Ian Bell at second slip. The same over also sees Anderson take his 401st Test wicket when he dismisses star batsman Kane Williamson.
Test wicket No 500: Kraigg Brathwaite (WIS), Lord’s 2017
A massive inswinger proves too much for Brathwaite, who will be West Indies’ captain at Lord’s this week, with Anderson going on to take career-best figures of 7-42 at the age of 35.
Test wicket No 564: Mohammed Shami (IND), The Oval 2018
Anderson become the most successful fast bowler in Test history by breaking Australia great Glenn McGrath’s mark of 563 wickets when cleaning up India tailender Shami at The Oval to seal a 4-1 series win.
Test wicket No 600: Azhar Ali (PAK), Southampton 2020
A match played behind closed doors because of the Covid-19 pandemic threatened to prove frustrating for Anderson when a combination of rain and four dropped catches on the last day threatened to leave him on 599 wickets before he induced an edge off Azhar that was held in the cordon.
Test wicket No 700: Kuldeep Yadav (IND), Dharamsala 2024
In sight of his 42nd birthday, Anderson broke yet more new ground for a paceman when he had Kuldeep caught behind off a thin edge.
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