James Anderson has called it an end to his illustrious cricketing career. The 41-year-old pacer’s longevity will be remembered by the fans. The career that lasted for 21 years has seen ups and downs in almost two decades. By bowling the greatest Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, he has come a long way in his prolonged career. The work he did throughout the decades to become fit and bowl consistently in the same line and length.
Jimmy is the only fast bowler to achieve the milestone of 700 Test wickets in the cricketing history. He ended with 704 wickets. Picking up one in the first innings of his last Test against West Indies and three in the second. This shows his strength to swing the ball at an age where a fast bowler would only dream of playing international cricket.
Anderson has played 188 test matches for the Three Lions. It is the second most in history after Sachin Tendulkar who played 200 games for India in the longest format. The veteran speedster knows from a career spanning 40,037 (legal) deliveries in international cricket is just unbelievable. He had the unique ability to swing the ball both ways with little change in his action.
England will not find another James Anderson
Other good bowlers gave the batter a hint with their shift of arm slot, and Anderson was able to induce swings both ways without the early warning signal. This is a wonderful skill, and it made Anderson a formidable opponent to play against. The former pacer could bowl reverse swing also reverse.
This was first judged by Tendulkar. This means in reverse swing the ball conventionally swings towards the rough side, and the reverse-swinging ball towards the shiny side. The ball’s orientation for the conventional inswinger, therefore, is the same as the one for the reverse outswinger.
The side might have bowlers who can have better records than him in a short time. But surely his legacy and consistency will be unmatched in the coming days with the skill and mindset he produced over two decades for the side.
