600 And Counting, ‘Hungry' England Spearhead Anderson Isn't Done Yet

Today, in terms of stamina and impact, he stands alongside the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Courtney Walsh and Glenn McGrath, whose tally of 563 wickets he surpassed in 2017

- Saibal Chatterjee

James Anderson, more a workhorse than a whiz, does not quite enjoy the rockstar status of, say, a Dale Steyn. Despite becoming the only fast bowler in the history of the game to capture 600 scalps, he might not even be regarded as one of the greatest pacers of all time. But there is something infinitely admirable in his work ethic.

It has helped him ply his back-breaking trade for nearly two decades and scale a numerical high that only three spinners – Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets), Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619) – have scaled.

The lanky 38-year-old Lancastrian, England’s bowling spearhead for well over a decade now, has played all his international cricket in the new millennium. Yet he has far less in common with his flashy contemporaries than with the fast bowling greats of earlier eras. It is Anderson’s single-minded focus on Test cricket, the most exacting format of the game, that defines the man and the bowler. It also explains his incredible longevity.