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Most successful bowlers for England across all 3 formats

A paradise for pace bowlers to be brought up, England's pitches with their swing and seam movement – even lateral movement off the surface – offer the best of opportunities for pacers, as well as a challenge for the greatest of batsmen to hone their skills – no wonder that the County Championship witnesses numerous foreign participants every year, who flock the country hoping to return home as more improved cricketers.

And as a result, England have had a string of fast bowling greats, the most prominent ones being Sir Ian Botham, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Sportskeeda, however, traces their best bowlers from each of the three formats.


Test cricket – James Anderson (2003 - present)

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One of the ends at his home ground Old Trafford has already been named after James Anderson

523 wickets at 27.41, Best: 7/42

5W - 25, 10WM - 3, Economy - 2.90

Not for any reason has one of the ends at the Old Trafford ground in Manchester been named after local boy James Anderson; not for any reason does he sit at the top of the charts among England's leading wicket-takers in Test cricket.

The strongly built Anderson has been devastating while moving the new ball around and been equally difficult to handle while reversing the old one. Despite suffering recurring injuries which have relatively slowed him down since 2015, the 35-year-old continues to lead with elan, maintaining exceptional consistency in teasing the batsmen in the corridor of uncertainty.

As many as 134 matches and 523 scalps in them bear testimony to the faith and confidence that the England team management has shown in him over the last many seasons. Anderson's real rise began only from the 2008 home summer onwards, and his position as the premier English bowler remains unmoved in spite of age catching up fast.

Recently, Anderson also added to his kitty what was missing all these years: a five-for in a Test in Australia; that said, he has little else to achieve in the days to come.

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