"I think he is in the top 10 cricketers of all time" - Michael Vaughan ahead of James Anderson's final Test
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes legendary pacer James Anderson will go down as one of the 10 greatest cricketers of all time. Anderson is set to call time on his career after his final Test appearance at Lord’s, set to begin on July 10 against the West Indies.
There's a lot of debate about whether Anderson is the greatest fast bowler to have ever played the game as he has picked up 700 Test wickets so far. Vaughan shed light on Anderson having scalped 987 international wickets and believes he is the best England have produced.
Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast here's what Michael Vaughan had to say about James Anderson:
"In international cricket, I think he has got 987 polls. He could easily be up there. He is certainly England's greatest by a good mile or two because Stuart Broad is close and the likes of Freddie Trueman back in the day were outstanding. I think he is in the top 10 cricketers of all time."
Anderson is likely to continue to be in the England setup as a bowling consultant almost immediately after his Test retirement.
James Anderson on his bowling at the age of 41
Despite being days away from his 42nd birthday, James Anderson believes he is bowling as good as he ever has. However, England captain Ben Stokes, coach Brendon McCullum and Director of Cricket Robert Key had met him earlier this year in Manchester and had explained to him why England wanted to move on from Anderson.
On this, here's what Anderson told reporters ahead of the first Test:
"I feel like I’m still bowling as well as I ever have. But, I knew it had to end at some point. Whether it’s now or in a year or two. The fact it’s now is something I’ve got to deal with and accept. The last couple of months I’ve made peace with that. I can completely understand the decision and the way the team and management want to go."
It will be interesting to see if James Anderson can pick up nine more wickets to go past the late Shane Warne as the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of the Test game.