Botham delighted as Anderson claims record England wicket

Rory Dollard 05:39 18/04/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Cricketing heroes: Botham and Anderson.

    Sir Ian Botham paid tribute to “awesome” James Anderson after seeing the paceman break his record to become England’s record Test wicket-taker.

    Anderson had Denesh Ramdin caught at slip by captain Alastair Cook on the final day of the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua to snare his 384th Test scalp.

    Botham feels that Anderson is the “complete bowler”.

    “He has been a joy to watch for more than 12 years in an England shirt and I’m absolutely delighted for him that he has finally overtaken me to be No. 1 on the Test wicket takers list out on his own,” Botham wrote in his column for The Mirror.

    “Because he has been out on his own for years as the leader of England’s attack and the finest swing bowler of his generation.

    “He hasn’t done it the easy way, he has had to work hard for his rewards and he has had to improve along the way to become the complete bowler he is today.

    “You don’t take as many wickets as he has by being a one-trick pony who can only succeed in swinging or helpful conditions.”

    Anderson marked his 100th cap in grand fashion, moving level with the great all-rounder when Marlon Samuels was caught at gully and breaking new ground when Cook snapped up Ramdin at slip.

    Anderson celebrated his new landmark by sprinting up the pitch, arms outstretched, after taking England within three wickets of the winning line.

    Anderson was still at primary school when Botham set the record at 383, but now stands on top of the pile and ready to set a new mark for his successors to follow.

    Only 13 players in the history of the game have taken more wickets than the 32-year-old, all of them greats and only nine of them seam bowlers.

    The ball that took him level owed as much to Samuels’ fuzzy thinking as Anderson’s guile, but the one that took him over the line was a peach.

    Too close to leave, full enough to beg a shot and shading away off the pitch. There was still work to do when it came high off the edge of Ramdin’s bat but Cook was up to it, tumbling to to his left and smothering the ball with both hands.

    Recommended