Jimmy Anderson, probably the most skilful bowler to hail from British shores
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Version 0 of 1. He slipped in almost unnoticed. It was 15 December 2002 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the second of four one-day internationals squeezed in between the third and fourth Ashes Tests of England’s tour of Australia, when a young slip of a lad with spiky brown hair was thrown the new ball by Nasser Hussain. There was no name or number on his back and Googling his statistics on the smartphone was, kids, not possible at the time. “J Anderson” popped up on the scoreboard and it took word of mouth among us in the travelling support to help ascertain that this was Lancashire’s new whiz-kid, playing only his sixth game of professional limited-overs cricket after being promoted from the academy because of Andrew Caddick’s dicky knee. Adam Gilchrist was his first and only victim that day, chopping on to his stumps but not before gorging himself to the tune of 124 from 104 balls. The Woah Jimmy, Jimmy song did not follow but this 20-year-old had shown promise, more than his figures of six overs, one for 46 would suggest. Good pace, a gliding approach to the crease and a curious head-down delivery, as if he was bowing in deference to the batsman before trying to pick his pocket. But none of the 34,000 spectators that day knew they were witnessing the start of an England career for a player who now, after his three wickets in Antigua – his 100th Test – sits above them all. Darren Gough’s one-day haul of 229 was passed in 2013. Now he has taken down the biggest beast, Sir Ian Botham, to become this country’s greatest wicket-taker in Test cricket, boasting 384 international dismissals with the red ball. A record that has stood since 21 June 1992 is no more. Not that Jimmy has had it all his own way, of course. Four years after his Test debut against Zimbabwe in 2003 and a breakthrough summer that reaped 26 wickets in seven Tests, all began to wonder who England were serving by dragging him around the circuit to bowl almost exclusively at traffic cones. He became the perennial reserve, dropped in to various deep ends and rarely floating. Like Steven Finn of late, there were questions being asked about the input of the England coaching staff. In 2006 he broke down with a stress fracture and missed six months of cricket – the very injury such tinkering was intended to avoid. By December the following year, after 20 Tests, his bowling average sat at a career high of 39.2. Then came the tipping point in March 2008 in the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, when, after a reversion to his natural bowling action and the backing of the head coach Peter Moores, he and Stuart Broad deposed Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison to form England’s most prolific partnership, sharing 519 wickets in 124 innings before this series. It was Anderson’s second coming, with 318 strikes and 13 of his 16 five-wicket hauls having been attained since. He has grown in stature in front of our eyes to become the ever-chuntering spearhead of England’s attack in an era that produced three Ashes wins and saw a climb to the top of the Test rankings in 2011. While Lord’s has witnessed his most wickets with 73 by virtue of hosting two Tests a summer, it is Trent Bridge, the swing bowler’s friend, that has been the happiest of hunting grounds with six of his five-fers including both of his 10-wicket Tests. Questions over his effectiveness overseas have been answered too, most notably in the 2010–11 Ashes and England’s first series win for 27 years in India two winters later. Harold Larwood and Frank Tyson unquestionably induced greater physical fear from batsmen, Bob Willis – the man whose 325 he passed at The Oval in 2013 to leave just Botham in his sights – defied the pain barrier to succeed while “Fiery” Fred Trueman was the first past 300 and took his at seven runs fewer. That leaves Botham, who burst out of the traps with 100 wickets in his first 19 Tests and 202 by his 41st. From there the rate slowed down with 1985, seven years before retirement, the last of his English summers to pass double figures. Anderson, by contrast, enjoyed his finest season in 2014, with 37 wickets at 21, and boasts greater fitness than the latter-day Beefy. Comparing eras, especially in this most fixture-congested of modern ones, is either a maddening task or a great pub debate. But numbers, at least, tell us that no English bowler has celebrated personal success more than Anderson at a time when we are told the bat has never dominated more. The label of being the most skilful to hail from these shores – most recently dispensed by the former captains Hussain and Michael Vaughan – seems a neat way to dodge the argument, even if that too will find its detractors among those longer in the tooth. One thing is for certain, we all know his name now. |