James Anderson became the first English bowler to enter the elite list of taking 500 Test wickets on September 8 when he bowled West Indies Kraigg Brathwaite. The fast bowler is an epitome of fitness for fast bowlers as most of them find themselves injury prone when exposed to tough conditions. But, Anderson has stood by them all playing his 129th Test match and still setting up the batsman the way he used to when he was young and furious. The ‘Swing-king’ revealed a few things in the press conference after the proceedings of Day 2 of the third Test.
The first Test wicket
Anderson became a little nostalgic as he recalled his first wicket which he got at the same cricket ground, the Lord’s. “I can remember my first Test wicket. Mark Vermeulen at Lord’s in 2003. Nasser Hussain was the captain and I ended up getting five wickets which was a proud moment,” the veteran fast bowler told media.
The toughest batsman he has bowled to
When asked this question, everyone expected a batsman who had already retired. Someone like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and many others. But, Anderson stunned everyone by taking the name of a current player. The 35-year-old revealed, “Hashim Amla, stands out, he is someone who is a world class player and I have not had a huge amount of success against him in the past,”.
The favourite dismissal
Anderson has always tried to setup the batsman by bowling a few outswingers and then surprising them with a fierce inswinger. We were not surprised when Anderson revealed his pick, he said, ““An inswinger, LBW or bowled after a few outswingers is very pleasing,”. This is the same way he got his 500th Test wicket.
Oh Jimmy Jimmy! Here’s all you need to know about @jimmy9‘s 500 Test wickets. #Jimmy500 pic.twitter.com/xCwBP64vhz
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 8, 2017
What a delivery this was to make it 501 Test wickets for @Jimmy9
More today please lads! pic.twitter.com/M8l5A1uJxc
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 9, 2017
Anderson has taken Tendulkar’s wicket 9 times in his career. He also revealed in November 2012 that he does not respect Tendulkar too much. Here is the video of the 9 dismissals of Anderson against the Master Blaster-
There comes a time when even legends of the game doubt themselves. Anderson was no different, he said, “Certainly when I was younger, doubted whether I was good enough to play international cricket. But I guess if you just try and battle to prove yourself you can do it,”.
