England may have failed to secure victory in the opening Test match of their current tour of the West Indies, yet there was reason to celebrate for seamer James Anderson in Antigua.
– Graeme Smith urges England to consider Pietersen recall
– Anderson basks in wickets record after passing Botham
– Botham delighted as Anderson claims record England wicket
Anderson, 32, became the top wicket-taker in Test matches for the England cricket team, overtaking the mark of Sir Ian Botham with his 384th wicket in the format—that of Denesh Ramdin.
Despite a relatively benign wicket, the Lancashire strike bowler was once more a major threat.
Our #360debate today is: Can James Anderson be regarded as England’s best-ever bowler?
Ajit Vijaykumar, Assistant News Editor, thinks YES.
James Anderson finally broke the record many expected him to – Ian Botham’s Test tally of 383 wickets.
Anderson is now the leading wicket-taker in the longest format for England, but does that make him the best bowler in the country’s history?
No doubt England have produced superb quicks, right from Fred Trueman, to John Snow, right through to Bob Willis, Ian Botham and Darren Gough.
All of them have served the Three Lions admirably but Anderson has excelled in a time in Test cricket when wickets are getting flatter and conventional swing has almost gone out of the game.
384 wickets! Here are the milestones for James Anderson: https://t.co/cFPAKMH1NL #Jimmy384
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) April 18, 2015
The names mentioned above played on pitches that almost always had enough help with batsmen giving them ample time to settle into their rhythm.
However, Anderson generally doesn’t get that privilege and has to be on the money from the start as batsmen nowadays, developed on the pastures of T20 cricket, go after the bowling from the start.
What sets Anderson apart from the rest is his performance in the 2011 Ashes and the 2012 Test series in India. The right-arm quick was the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps as England lifted the urn Down Under following an emphatic 3-1 win.
But more significant was his effort in India. Even though he only took 12 wickets from four Tests, it was by far the most impressive bowling display by any visiting fast bowler in contemporary cricket in India and it sealed a memorable series win over Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side.
He’s just become England’s leading Test wicket taker – should @jimmy9 now be considered the best ever? #WIvENG pic.twitter.com/J2DdYv01Xj
— MoneyGram Cricket (@MGCricket) April 17, 2015
The India captain was even forced to acknowledge Anderson was the main difference between the two sides.
Those results coincided with England becoming the No1 Test team in the world. And a big chunk of the credit for that goes to Anderson.
Taking all of it into account, plus the fact that he plays other formats of the game which his predecessors didn’t, makes Anderson the best bowler produced by England in my book.
Simply put, Anderson would have taken 384 wickets in 100 Tests in any era of the game, so refined is his technique. But I am not sure you can say the same about the others.
Barny Read, Sport360 Online Journalist, thinks NO.
James Anderson is a superb bowler and deserves to be heralded as one of England’s greats, especially after passing Ian Botham’s record in Antigua last week, but is he the greatest of all-time to play in a three lions shirt? Quite simply, no.
At his peak, Anderson’s ability to swing the ball both ways and bowl along the metronomic lines of such legends as Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh was masterful. However, this period of brilliance was not sustained beyond England’s glory years of 2005 and 2009.
384 wickets. England’s best ever. #raiseyourgame pic.twitter.com/SRrPAE4Qvm
— adidas UK (@adidasUK) April 17, 2015
He may well have led the English attack since then, and admirably so it must be said, but that is largely in part to the hesitancy of the ECB to give younger bowlers a run in the side, a plague of injuries to the likes of Chris Tremlett and Simon Jones and a dearth of top notch British fast bowlers.
Anderson is also playing at a time when countries are playing more Test cricket than ever before.
The Lancastrian may well have reached the summit of England’s Test wicket-takers two games quicker than Botham but he didn’t have the burden of having to also be the side’s go-to man with both bat and ball.
In this respect you need only look at the fact that Anderson is still only 32 and thanks to modern fitness techniques and management is likely to play at the top for a few years more.
Compare that to Bob Willis who is third in the list and retired at 35 having played 10 matches fewer than Anderson has already and you get the gist.
Fred Trueman (4th) and Derek Underwood (5th) played 33 and 14 less Tests than Anderson and retired at 34 and 37 respectively.
Trueman may have played on uncovered pitches but each of those mentioned above also played in eras where batsmen were obtuse in the defence of their wicket, giving fewer opportunities to bowlers.
In the modern day of IPL and 350 becoming par for the course in 50-over cricket, people may be scoring quicker but more wickets are thrown away than ever before.
A remarkable talent and one of the finest in his generation both domestically and abroad but ‘the greatest’ is a moniker which remains some way off. There is still time of course.
