Jubilant Jimmy joins the 500 club
LOOK WHO’S HAPPY TO HAVE JOINED THE...
FOURTEEN years have passed since a tearaway called James Anderson charged in from the Nursery End at Lord’s and bowled Zimbabwe’s Mark Vermeulen to claim his first Test wicket on his way to his first five-wicket haul.
England and their captain Nasser Hussain knew then they had a talent on their hands but nobody predicted he would go on to become the greatest of all English bowlers and one of the best the world has seen.
Anderson was back at Lord’s yesterday and, this time from the Pavilion End, bowled Kraigg Brathwaite to reach the magical figure of 500 and tick off the latest and most impressive of the landmarks that now litter his career.
In the process, he got England off to the perfect start in their attempt to quash West Indian resistance in a Test that is proving to be a compelling conclusion to a dramatic series that was expected to be a one-sided stroll. Anderson said he was relieved to have put the milestone behind him.
‘I can’t quite believe I’ve got this many wickets,’ he said. ‘I’m more relieved to get it out of the way than anything else. The 500th nipped back down the slope. Lord’s is such a special place.
‘To get my first Test wicket and to get my 500th here will live with me for a long time.’
Anderson also bowled Kieran Powell as the tourists closed on 93 for three, an overall lead of 22 in this decisive third Test.
Yet the Englishman was to end another eventful day in animated conversation with umpire Marais Erasmus over twice being warned for running on the pitch.
He now risks tarnishing his momentous achievement today if he is not careful by being removed from the attack on the decisive day of the series.
The hair was a little different and the face a little fresher in 2003, but little else physically has changed about a bowler who has added so much skill, nous and combative spirit to the raw components straight out of Burnley Cricket Club.
Anderson is just the sixth bowler to take 500 wickets and only the third seamer, reaching the landmark after the same number of Tests, 129, as Courtney Walsh and on the same Lord’s ground as Glenn McGrath.
He has every chance of surpassing them both, too, and marching on towards the 619 victims that sees India’s Anil Kumble third on the all-time list behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
How England still need Anderson, now a sprightly 35, to carry on towards his stated intent of playing not just in this winter’s Ashes but perhaps even the next two after that, because he remains a master of his art.
The big moment came after England, on another autumnal day made for seam and swing, had eked out a potentially decisive lead of 71 thanks to some late hitting from Stuart Broad in company with his strike partner Anderson.
The clouds that have hovered over Lord’s for the best part of two days lifted in time for sunlight to greet a pearl of an in-swinger from Anderson that burst through the defences of the most durable of the West Indian batsmen.
Anderson raised a hand to the sky, then spread his arms wide before celebrating with his team-mates. He held the ball aloft to take the acclaim of a big Lord’s crowd, who had stayed on throughout three hours of rain.
Yet it was not even the best ball Anderson delivered yesterday, for he was to return in the gloom after Broad had claimed Kyle Hope to bowl Powell with a near perfect out-swinger to the left-hander that just trimmed the off-bail.
At that stage, West Indies were two runs behind England with three wickets down, but they edged to a lead of 22 with those seven wickets in hand when umpires Erasmus and Chris Gaffaney called it a day just after 7.30pm.
There were glimpses of the feisty side of Anderson before the close when he was twice officially warned by Erasmus after a couple of unofficial cautions and he appeared to tell the South African umpire he was not exactly enamoured with the decision. Anderson cannot afford to transgress again today.
England owed their eventual 194 largely to Ben Stokes, who survived a chance to a vacant third slip off Shannon Gabriel on 24 and was then bowled by West Indies’ fastest bowler off a no ball on 60.
Gabriel was to atone for his error just two balls later and England needed Broad to hit two off-side sixes off the excellent Kemar Roach in a skittish but perhaps priceless last-wicket stand of 31 with Anderson.
Roach was outstanding in taking five England wickets but West Indies were made to pay for their surprising decision to prefer leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo to a fourth seamer and all 52.5 overs were shared by their three quicks.
Whether that costs West Indies remains to be seen but there is everything to play for in an Investec series that could be decided today.
With Anderson in the thick of it.