Celebrating James Anderson's 39th birthday: Top 5 spells in Test cricket
Perhaps the best swing bowler of this generation, England's pace spearhead James Anderson turned 39 on Friday. Despite his age, the maverick keeps charging in and getting the ball to swing and shape, and he has already crossed the 600-wickets milestone in Tests.
James Anderson started his career back in 2003 and even after 18 years, he remains fit as a fiddle and is one of the lynchpins in England's Test bowling attack. As far as numbers are concerned, in 162 Test matches played so far, James Anderson has picked up 617 wickets - the only pacer in history to cross the 600-wicket mark in the format.
Here we take a look at the top bowling performances in Test cricket by James Anderson:
7/43 vs New Zealand, Trent Bridge 2008
Despite not being a regular in the Test squad in the initial days of his career, Anderson claimed 80 wickets in the first 24 Tests he played. He was then drafted back into the squad for the 2008 series against New Zealand where he wreaked havoc.
Riding on Kevin Pietersenโs magnificent 115, England posted 364 in their first innings. James Anderson then stepped up and he had the ball on a hoop as he swung it and sliced through the New Zealand batting order.
He picked up 7/43 and 2/55 respectively as England smashed New Zealand by an innings and nine runs. James Anderson claimed 19 wickets in the three tests played on the tour.
5-73 vs Zimbabwe, Lord's, London
James Anderson made a sparkling debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in 2003. His first four wickets were through trademark away swingers, a ball that pitched on off stump and swerved away to grab the edges. The blonde-haired, skewed-eyed bowler had made an impression in his first Test innings and it was the beginning of a glorious career.
This performance started a love affair of James Anderson with Lord's and in the years to come, he would go on to dismantle several batting orders with his swing and seam.
6-47 vs Australia, Trent Bridge 2015
Trent Bridge has always been very kind to James Anderson and he exploits the swinging and seaming conditions perfectly.
England came into the second Ashes Test after securing a riveting draw in Cardiff, but Australia were the team under pressure as they batted on a tricky surface. They were three down at lunch, but the carnage followed post the break when James Anderson snatched four wickets in seven overs between lunch and the next break. This is when Australia were bruised and the series was decided.
5-20 vs India, Lord's 2018
James Anderson kept getting better as he aged. At the age of 36, he turned another corner and became almost unplayable, especially when conditions were in his favor. Against India at Lord's, everything was in his favor: the pitch was green, the clouds were gloomy and India were asked to bat first.
James Anderson trundled in and got the ball to swerve around corners and the Indian batting order was brought to its knees. It was an absolute masterclass, he got the ball to swing and seam just enough and his economy was just under 2.
India were never in the game and the match practically ended in a jiffy in the first couple of hours itself as Anderson bagged another five-wicket haul. England's win was a mere formality after the Indian batting order collapsed in the first innings.
7/42 vs West Indies, Lord's 2017
England took on West Indies in 2017 with the anticipation of James Anderson breaching 500 Test wickets. However, Ben Stokes stepped up in the first innings and Anderson remained on 499 wickets.
However, he stepped up in the second innings and when he dismissed Kraigg Brathwaite, he notched up his 500th wicket. He then followed it with the wickets of Kieran Powell, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shai Hope, Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach and ended with his career-best figures of 7 wickets for 42 runs. England went on to win the match and the series.