England's James Anderson celebrates taking the wicket of Pakistan's Abid Ali lbw, on Day 4 of the third Test vs Pakistan. (Alastair Grant/Pool via REUTERS)England’s veteran pacer James Anderson crossed another milestone when he reached his 600th Test wicket on Day 5 of the third and final Test against Pakistan at Southampton. He reached the landmark when Azhar Ali got out for 31 when play resumed after two sessions were lost.
The 38-year-old became the first pace bowler to enter the 600-Test wickets club. Already England’s leading Test wicket-taker, Anderson is behind only spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800) of Sri Lanka, Australia’s Shane Warne (708) and India’s Anil Kumble (619).
Congratulations!!!!!!
👏👏👏👏👏👏 @jimmy9 for this incredible achievement. 600 wickets. #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/OO4WVrpMI3— Faisal Abbasi (@FaisalA75928158) August 25, 2020
He had surpassed Australian legend Glenn McGrath’s 563 Test wickets in 2018 during the fifth Test against India at The Oval in 2018.
Standing at 599 wickets on Day 4, Anderson could have completed the milestone on a penultimate day but some dropped catches made him wait longer.
The right-arm pacer, who made his Test debut in 2003 against Zimbabwe, reached his 600th wicket in his 156th Test match at Southampton. After his below-par show in the series-opener, where he could grab only one wicket in the entire match, the speculations were rife that Anderson may contemplate retirement.
Finally he does it! 🏏
6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ for Jimmy Anderson 🔥 #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/A5QG6rIuPg
— James Lewer (@james_lewer) August 25, 2020
Numbers Game
Milestone victims for James Anderson
1st: Mark Vermeulen (2003)
50th: MS Dhoni (2007)
100th: Jacques Kallis (2008)
200th: Peter Siddle (2010)
300th: Peter Fulton (2013)
400th: Martin Guptill (2015)
500th: Kraigg Brathwaite (2017)
600th: Azhar Ali (2020)
First fast bowler to wicket milestones
100: Charlie Turner (1895)
200: Alec Bedser (1953)
300: Fred Trueman (1964)
400: Richard Hadlee (1990)
500: Courtney Walsh (2001)
600: James Anderson (2020)
Balls to 600th wicket:
33711 M Muralitharan
33717 James Anderson
34919 Shane Warne
38496 Anil Kumble