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Is Jimmy the Sachin of fast bowling?

August 29, 2020 12:58 IST

Jimmy Anderson is the fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets.
Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers on this incredible feat.

James Anderson

IMAGE: James Anderson celebrates taking 600 wickets in Test cricket, during the third Test against Pakistan in Southampton, August 25, 2020. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images for ECB

England's James Anderson became the first pace bowler to take 600 Test wickets, reaching the milestone in the third and final Test against Pakistan in Southampton on August 25, 2020.

The 38-year-old pacer, who made his Test debut in 2003, took 156 matches to reach the coveted 600 wicket mark in Test cricket.

He is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the longer format after Sri Lankan Mutthiah Muralitharan (800), Australia's Shane Warne (708) and India's Anil Kumble (619).

Among current players, only compatriot Stuart Broad with 514 wickets from 143 games has a realistic chance of getting to Anderson's 600 wicket mark.

Pace bowlers with most wickets in Test cricket

	Tests	Balls	Runs	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
James Anderson	156	33,745	16,078	600	7/42	26.79	56.24	29	3
Glenn McGrath	124	29,248	12,186	563	8/24	21.64	51.95	29	3
Courtney Walsh	132	30,019	12,688	519	7/37	24.44	57.84	22	3
Stuart Broad	143	29,004	14,216	514	8/15	27.65	56.43	18	3
Dale Steyn	93	18,608	10,077	439	7/51	22.95	42.39	26	5
Kapil Dev	131	27,740	12,867	434	9/83	29.64	63.92	23	2
Richard Hadlee	86	21,918	9,611	431	9/52	22.29	50.85	36	9
Shaun Pollock	108	24,353	9,733	421	7/87	23.11	57.85	16	1
Wasim Akram	104	22,627	9,779	414	7/119	23.62	54.65	25	5
Curtly Ambrose	98	22,103	8,501	405	8/45	20.99	54.58	22	3
Mkhaya Ntini	101	20,834	11,242	390	7/37	28.82	53.42	18	4
Ian Botham	102	21,815	10,878	383	8/34	28.40	56.96	27	4
Malcolm Marshall	81	17,584	7,876	376	7/22	20.94	46.77	22	4
Waqar Younis	87	16,224	8,788	373	7/76	23.56	43.50	22	5
Imran Khan	88	19,458	8,258	362	8/58	22.81	53.75	23	6
Chaminda Vaas	111	23,438	10,501	355	7/71	29.58	66.02	12	2
Dennis Lillee	70	18,467	8,493	355	7/83	23.92	52.02	23	7
Allan Donald	72	15,519	7,344	330	8/71	22.25	47.03	20	3
Bob Willis	90	17,357	8,190	325	8/43	25.20	53.41	16	0
Mitchell Johnson	73	16,001	8,891	313	8/61	28.40	51.12	12	3
Zaheer Khan	92	18,785	10,247	311	7/87	32.94	60.40	11	1
Brett Lee	76	16,531	9,554	310	5/30	30.81	53.33	10	0
Morne Morkel	86	16,498	8,550	309	6/23	27.66	53.39	8	0
Fred Trueman	67	15,178	6,625	307	8/31	21.57	49.44	17	3

First fast bowler to reach each progressive milestone of 100 wickets:

100 wickets: Charlie Turner (Australia) in 1895
200 wickets: Alec Bedser (England) in 1953
300 wickets: Fred Trueman (England) in 1964
400 wickets: Richard Hadlee (New Zealand) in 1990
500 wickets: Courtney Walsh (West Indies) in 2001
600 wickets: James Anderson (England) in 2020

James Anderson

IMAGE: James Anderson is the first fast bowler to take 600 wickets in Test cricket. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images for ECB

Anderson had Pakistan Captain Azhar Ali caught at slip by Joe Root in the second innings of the Southampton Test to reach the coveted landmark of 600 wickets in the five-day format.

Anderson's progress chart

Wicket	Test	Victim	Venue
1st	1st	Mark Vermeulen (Zimbabwe)	Lord's, 2003
100th	29th	Jacques Kallis (South Africa)	The Oval, 2008
200th	55th	Peter Siddle (Australia)	Perth, 2010-2011
300th	81st	Peter Fulton (New Zealand)	Lord's, 2013
400th	104th	Martin Guptill (New Zealand)	Leeds 2015
500th	129th	Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies)	Lord's, 2017
600th	156th	Azhar Ali (Pakistan)	Southampton, 2020

Of his 600 wickets, Anderson has bowled batsmen 116 times, while he has got batsmen leg before wicket 88 times, while the rest are catches.

Mode of Dismissals

	Total
Bowled	116
LBW	88
Caught in the field	221
Caught by wicket-keeper	165
Caught and bowled	10
Total	600

Victims by scores

Score	Dismissals
0	99
1-9	198
10-49	209
50-89	64
90-99	4
100-199	23
200+	3
Total	600

Anderson has got Australian Peter Siddle 11 times in Tests, while he has accounted for India's batting great Sachin Tendulkar nine times along with Australians David Warner, Michael Clarke and Pakistan captain Azhar Ali.

Batsmen dismissed on most occasions:

11 times: Peter Siddle
9 times: Sachin Tendulkar, David Warner, Michael Clarke, Azhar Ali
8 times: Shane Watson, Shan Masood
7 times: Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Murali Vijay, Kraig Brathwaite, Jacques Kallis, Cheteshwar Pujara, Brad Haddin

Victims by batting style

Right-handed batsmen: 414 (69%)
Left-handed batsmen: 186 (31%)

Anderson's favourite opposition is India, against whom he has claimed 110 wickets at an average of 25, while he has taken 104 scalps against Australia, while South Africa a close third on 93.

Performance against each country

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
v Australia	32	104	6/47	34.56	67.80	5	1
v India	27	110	5/20	25.98	54.88	4	0
v South Africa	26	93	5/40	31.52	64.09	4	0
v West Indies	22	87	7/42	22.60	51.90	5	0
v Pakistan	18	74	6/17	19.31	49.27	3	1
v New Zealand	14	60	7/43	26.83	49.22	3	0
v Sri Lanka	13	52	5/16	23.86	51.83	4	1
v Zimbabwe	2	11	5/73	20.27	34.91	1	0
v Bangladesh	2	9	4/78	24.77	56.00	0	0

James Anderson

IMAGE: James Anderson celebrates dismissing Kraigg Brathwaite of the West Indies to claim his 500th Test wicket during Day 2 of the 3rd Investec Test at Lord's, September 8, 2017. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Anderson has a super record at home with 384 wickets in 89 Tests at an average of 23, while in away matches he has taken 216 wickets in 67 games.

Performance in each country

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Averge	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
in England	89	384	7/42	23.83	50.23	22	3
in Australia	18	60	5/43	35.43	72.05	1	0
in West Indies	10	36	6/42	24.80	57.75	2	0
in South Africa	10	34	5/40	34.61	67.97	2	0
in New Zealand	7	26	5/73	32.80	58.85	1	0
in India	10	26	4/40	33.46	71.50	0	0
in UAE	6	22	4/17	20.54	58.91	0	0
in Sri Lanka	6	12	5/72	46.08	88.33	1	0

Home and away

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	SR	5WI	10WM
in England	89	384	7/42	23.83	50.23	22	3
outside England	67	216	6/42	32.05	66.93	7	0

Performance in each match innings

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
Match's 1st innings	68	167	6/47	26.80	55.82	7	0
Match's 2nd innings	87	208	7/43	26.83	56.26	15	3
Match's 3rd innings	82	147	7/42	27.03	56.15	4	1
Match's 4th innings	58	78	6/17	26.23	57.27	3	2

Performance in won/lost/drawn Tests

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
in won matches	70	323	7/42	20.19	43.49	19	3
in lost matches	53	151	6/42	37.51	75.32	6	0
in drawn matches	33	126	5/42	30.86	66.07	4	0

Performance in each calendar year

Year	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
2003	8	26	5/73	34.84	57.65	2	0
2004	3	7	4/52	31.28	47.29	0	0
2005	1	2	2/117	74.50	102.00	0	0
2006	3	8	4/40	47.75	70.88	0	0
2007	5	19	5/42	40.78	67.89	1	0
2008	11	46	7/43	29.84	53.33	2	0
2009	13	40	5/80	33.87	66.13	2	0
2010	12	57	6/17	22.96	48.74	3	1
2011	7	35	5/65	24.85	50.80	1	0
2012	14	48	5/72	29.50	70.79	1	0
2013	14	52	5/47	31.82	61.37	3	1
2014	8	40	5/53	22.15	49.50	1	0
2015	11	46	6/42	22.65	51.33	2	0
2016	12	41	5/16	23.73	57.68	3	1
2017	11	55	7/42	17.58	46.47	4	0
2018	12	43	5/20	22.51	54.65	1	0
2019	5	12	5/46	30.16	67.58	1	0
2020	6	23	5/40	20.47	51.65	2	0

Like wine, Anderson has also gotten better with age.

He got 181 wickets in his first 50 Tests at an average of 32, but in his next 50 Tests the average improved 27 and it took another jump after 100 Tests with 216 wickets coming from 56 games -- from 100th Test to 156th -- at an incredible average of 21.

	Balls	Runs	Wickets	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
First 50 Tests	10,411	5,807	181	32.08	57.52	10	1
Next 50 Tests	11,989	5,627	203	27.72	59.06	6	1
Next 56 Tests	11,345	4,644	216	21.50	52.52	13	1

James Anderson

IMAGE: James Anderson celebrates taking the wicket of Zimbabwe's Mark Vermeulen -- his first wicket in Tests -- during the first Test at Lord's, May 23, 2003. Photograph: Tom Shaw/Getty Images

332 of Anderson's 600 wickets have come since turning 30.

In the entire Test history only one fast bowler -- Courtney Walsh -- has taken more wickets after the age of 30. Take a look:

Most wickets by pacers after turning 30

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
Courtney Walsh	81	341	7/37	24.18	58.37	17	2
James Anderson	85	332	7/42	23.91	54.83	17	2
Glenn McGrath	65	287	8/24	20.90	52.53	12	1
Richard Hadlee	51	276	9/52	19.47	47.00	25	6
Allan Donald	47	216	6/53	20.87	45.08	14	1
Curtly Ambrose	56	215	6/24	20.60	54.66	13	1
Dennis Lillee	38	184	7/83	24.33	52.63	11	3
Alec Bedser	38	178	7/44	22.49	63.85	13	3
Chris Martin	53	170	6/26	34.16	62.32	5	0
Imran Khan	45	170	8/60	20.59	48.51	11	4
Stuart Broad	49	169	6/31	25.89	56.54	3	1

Not only has Anderson been one of the most successful bowlers in the 30-plus age group, he has in fact gone better after turning 30.

His average before turning 30 was 30.38 as against 23.91 since he turned 30. Also, his strike-rate has improved.

Anderson: Before and after turning 30

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
before turning 30	71	268	7/43	30.38	58.00	12	1
after turning 30	85	332	7/42	23.91	54.83	17	2

When it comes to take advantage of home conditions, Anderson is right there on the top among the pacers.

Even if we include greatest spinners like Muralitharan, Kumble, Warne, who all at some point of time if not always had the luxury of bowling at wickets tailor-made to suit their bowling, only one bowler has outshone Anderson on the wickets front.

His England team-mate Broad is the second-best among pace bowlers with 334 wickets from 82 Tests.

Most successful bowlers at home

	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5WI	10WM
Muttiah Muralitharan	73	493	9/51	19.56	50.83	45	15
James Anderson	89	384	7/42	23.83	50.23	22	3
Anil Kumble	63	350	10/74	24.88	59.41	25	7
Stuart Broad	82	334	8/15	25.54	50.09	13	3
Shane Warne	69	319	8/71	26.39	60.87	15	4
Glenn McGrath	66	289	8/24	22.43	54.77	11	2
Rangana Herath	49	278	9/127	23.65	51.34	26	7
Harbhajan Singh	55	265	8/84	28.76	64.11	18	4
Dale Steyn	52	261	6/8	21.62	40.21	16	3
Ravi Ashwin	43	254	7/59	22.80	49.43	21	6
Mkhaya Ntini	53	249	6/59	24.04	45.24	12	2

RAJNEESH GUPTA