England vs Pakistan 2020: James Anderson - First Pacer And Second-Quickest To Reach 600-Plus Club

James Anderson became the first pacer in cricket history to reach the milestone of 600 Test wickets when he saw the back of Azhar Ali on Day 5 of the third and final Test against Pakistan in Southampton.

Overall, he joins the three legendary spinners – Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble in the 600-Plus Club.

Interestingly, Anderson is the second-quickest in terms of number of balls bowled to reach the milestone. Anderson picked his 600th wicket with his 33,717th delivery, 6 deliveries slower than Muttiah Muralitharan.

We look at some numbers which have defined Anderson’s Test career:

600: The first fast bowler and 4th overall to make it to the 600-Club

Shane Warne was the first bowler to reach the landmark when he had Marcus Trescothick caught behind by Adam Gilchrist in the third Ashes Test in Manchester in 2005.

33,717: Number of Deliveries to reach 600 Test Wickets

Anderson is the second-fastest in terms of number of deliveries bowled to reach the landmark of 600 Test wickets. He got Azhar Ali with his 33,717th delivery. Muralitharan got his 600th with his 33,711th delivery. It took Warne 34,919 and Kumble 38,496 deliveries to reach the milestone.

17 Years and 91 Days: Time taken by Anderson to reach the Milestone of 600 wickets

Anderson reached the milestone in his 156th Test.

29: Number of 5 wicket hauls in an innings

Anderson picked his 29th fifer in the first innings of the ongoing Test against Pakistan in Southampton.

Only Sir Richard Hadlee had picked more five-wicket hauls (36) in his Test career. Glenn McGrath also boasted of 29 in just 124 Tests.

67.86%: Percentage of Five-Wicket Hauls in Winning Matches

Prior to the start of the ongoing Southampton Test, Anderson had picked 28 five-wicket hauls in an innings in his Test career and 19 of these came in winning matches – the maximum in victorious matches for England.

Anderson’s Winning Five-Wicket Percentage is higher than Gough (55.56%), Broad (55.56%), Willis (43.75%), Trueman (64.71%), Statham (55.56%) and Bedser (40%).

405/600: Number of Batsmen Dismissed for Less than 20 runs scored

67.5% of Anderson’s dismissals lie in the range of 0-19 runs implying that two of every three wickets he has taken in his career have been early breakthroughs with the new ball.

15.07: Anderson’s Average-Strike Rate Product (Average*Strike Rate divided by 100)

It is the 4th best amongst the 13 fast bowlers from England who have taken a minimum of 200 Test wickets.

It is also better than the likes of Craig McDermott, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Makhaya Ntini, Brett Lee amongst others.

Anderson’s Bowling Average of 26.76 is better than Mitchell Starc, Morne Morkel, Jeff Thomson, Mitchell Johnson, McDermott, Ntini, Lee, Darren Gough, Andy Caddick to name a few fast bowling greats.

Anderson’s Bowling Strike Rate of 56.2 is better than McDermott, Southee, Courtney Walsh, Shaun Pollock, Ray Lindwall and Brian Statham amongst other fast bowling big-wigs.

2014-2018: Anderson’s Golden Period in Test Cricket

No fast bowler picked more wickets than Anderson’s 225 in the five year period from 2014 to 2018. Anderson’s Bowling Average of 21.49 is the best amongst the 22 bowlers (including spinners) who picked a minimum of 100 wickets in this period.

Some of England’s big wins at home during this period included the 2014 and 2018 victories against India, Ashes in 2015 and against South Africa in 2017.

Some of their biggest Away wins included the 2015-16 series victory in South Africa and the 2018 win in Sri Lanka.

Anderson was the highest wicket taker, both in 2014 and 2018 against India at home picking 25 and 24 wickets respectively. He also bagged 20 wickets in 4 Tests against South Africa at home at 14.1 apiece in 2017.

245: Number of Wickets against Sub-Continent Teams

Anderson has a stupendous record against India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He is the leading wicket-taker (amongst pace bowlers) against these 4 sub-continent teams with 245 wickets from 60 Tests at an average of 23.42 and strike rate of 52.5.

25: Maximum Wickets in a Series (vs India at Home in 2014)

Anderson bagged 25 wickets in 5 Tests against India in the home series in 2014.

384: Number of Wickets at Home

No fast bowler has picked more wickets at home than Anderson.

Anderson has picked 384 wickets in England in 89 Tests at an average of 23.8 and strike rate of 50.1. 22 of his 29 fifers and all his 3 ten-wicket hauls have come in conducive home conditions where he has mastered the art of swing and seam bowling.

Anderson’s Average and Strike Rate Product in England is better than the likes of Bedser, Walsh, Hadlee, Gough and Wasim Akram amongst others (in England).

7/42: Best Bowling Figures in an Innings (vs West Indies at Lord’s in 2017)

Anderson also picked 7-43 against New Zealand in Nottingham in 2008.

11/71: Best Bowling Figures in a Match (vs Pakistan at Nottingham in 2010)

Trent Bridge has been Anderson’s favourite hunting ground. He has picked 64 wickets at the venue in just 10 Tests at 19.62 apiece and a strike rate of 42.5.

He has 7 fifers and 2 of his 3 ten-wicket hauls (in a match) have come at Nottingham.

2010-11 & 2013: Two Great Ashes Performances by Anderson

Anderson gave two series-defining Ashes performances during his career.

He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2010-11 Ashes in Australia playing a pivotal role in England’s 3-1 series victory. It was England’s first series win Down Under since 1986. And remains the only Away Ashes victory in 34 years!

He also played a significant role in the 2013 Ashes win at home.