James Anderson in numbers: How England's greatest got even better
Our data visualisations make clear Anderson’s improvement as his career has worn on
ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2024After more than 40,000 balls across 188 Test matches, James Anderson’s international career is over.England’s greatest-ever bowler and the leading wicket-taker in Test history among seamers bowed out with three second-innings wickets in a crushing victory over West Indies at Lord’s on Friday, 21 years after making his debut in the format against Zimbabwe at the same venue.Anderson sits third in the all-time list of leading wicket-takers in Test cricket, behind only Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralidaran. Joshua da Silva became his 704th and final wicket on Friday morning, edging an outswinger through to England’s debutant wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.Throughout his career, Anderson has been among the world’s most prolific bowlers. Since his debut in May 2003, only three other bowlers in the world – Stuart Broad, Nathan Lyon and R Ashwin – have managed to take 500 or more Test wickets, let alone 700.
Self-improvement has been one of Anderson’s primary traits through his career. He was initially a tearaway fast bowler, who had pace but lacked skill and control. He has gradually evolved into arguably the greatest swing bowler that the world has seen, and developed into a skilled exponent of the wobble seam in the second half of his international career.As this visualisation shows, he improved with age: after his 35th birthday, he took 224 wickets at an average of just 22.71. His average, economy and strike rate have all dropped significantly since the early days of his career more than two decades ago.
Across his Test career, he played alongside 109 different men for England: from Mark Butcher and Alec Stewart, to Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith. He told Sky Sports on Friday: “It just makes me feel proud that I’ve been able to play with so many players… so many unbelievably talented cricketers, some of the greats of the game.”ESPNcricinfo LtdAnd he signed off boasting a Test record that is the envy of any fast bowler in the sport’s history. So long, Jimmy, and thanks for all the wickets.ESPNcricinfo LtdGraphics and visualisations created by Paul Muchmore