Former England captain Mike Atherton has said no fast bowler will be able to take more wickets than England pacer James Anderson in Test cricket. Anderson, 40, currently playing his 179th Test has been a tremendous performer for England over the years in red-ball cricket.
James Anderson has 682 wickets at an average of 25.94, with 32 five-fers and Anderson is behind the Legendary former spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) are above England great on the list. In a column for The Times, Atherton shared his views of why the most wickets by a fast bowler in Tests is unlikely to be broken.
“No fast bowler will take more wickets than Anderson in Test cricket again. Ever. Records are there to be broken; faster, stronger, higher, and all that, but I have absolute conviction that Anderson’s record, as yet unfinished and incomplete, will never be broken. As long as Test cricket is played, Anderson will stand tall, looking down on the rest,” Atherton Wrote
Atherton brought the stats into his analysis as Stuart Broad and Tim Southee being the nearest competitor for Anderson, but it is almost impossible for them to break the record.
“Stuart Broad is his nearest challenger, with 571 wickets, but Broad, at 36, won’t carry on for much longer. After Broad, you have to scroll down the list to Tim Southee (355), for the next active fast bowler.”
Earlier in the series, England Veteran Fast Bowling duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson became the second bowling pair to take 1000 wickets together in Test cricket. James Anderson and Stuart Broad have become the most prolific bowling partnership in Test cricket after surpassing the 1,001 wickets achieved by Australia’s Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
James Anderson Becomes The New No.1 Ranked Test Bowler
England pacer James Anderson has become the new no.1 ranked a bowler in the latest update of ICC Test players’ rankings. The ranking also showed India’s Ravichandran Ashwin moving to the second spot, while Australia skipper Pat Cummins slipped to third place.
For the sixth time in his international career, Anderson is currently ranked as the best bowler in Test cricket. Most recently, in 2018, he rose to the top bowler for five months. With Anderson and Broad still fit to play they will important players for England in the important Ashes in June 2023.