James Anderson signs off from Test cricket: Decoding his stats
It's the end of an era as James Anderson has retired from Test cricket. He bowed out with England's triumph over West Indies in the opening Test at Lord's. Anderson claimed four wickets in the game as the Brits won by an innings and 114 runs. Notably, the legendary pacer brought an end to a 22-year-old international career. Here are his stats and records.
Third-most wickets in Tests
Anderson is the only seamer with 700-plus wickets in Test cricket (704). Interestingly, Anderson's compatriot Stuart Broad, who has already retired, remains the only other pacer with over 600 Test scalps (604). Glenn McGrath (563) and Courtney Walsh (519) are the only other pacers with 500+ wickets. Overall, only Muthiah Muralidaran (800) and Shane Warne (708) own more Test scalps than Anderson.
32 fifers in Test cricket
Anderson has the sixth-most five-wicket hauls in the history of red-ball cricket (32). Only Muralidaran (67), Warne (37), Sir Richard Hadlee (36), Anil Kumble (35), R Ashwin (36), and Rangana Herath (34) have clipped more five-fers than Anderson in this format. Anderson's tally also includes three 10-wicket match hauls. Meanwhile, the pacer overall retired with 704 wickets at 26.46.
Anderson's milestone scalps in Test cricket
Anderson dismissed Kuldeep Yadav in the Dharamsala Test earlier this year to complete 700 wickets in the format. Here are Anderson's Test victims - 100th wicket: Jacques Kallis, 200th wicket: Peter Siddle, 300th wicket: Peter Fulton, 400th wicket: Martin Guptill, 500th wicket: Kraigg Brathwaite, 600th wicket: Azhar Ali, and 700th wicket: Kuldeep Yadav.
A record 188 Test appearances
Anderson has retired with 188 Test appearances, the second-most for a player after Sachin Tendulkar (200). It is worth noting that no specialist bowler other than Anderson has more than 170 appearances. Broad is the next pacer on this list with 167 caps. Among active players, Australia's Nathan Lyon follows Anderson with 129 Test appearances.
Anderson's other records that will remain unbroken
Anderson has the most international wickets taken caught by the wicket-keeper (249). No other active cricketer has even 200 scalps. His tally of 467 wickets taken caught overall is the most for a bowler in Test cricket. Anderson also has most wickets taken bowled by a pacer in the longest format (137). He is only behind Muthiah Muralidaran (167) overall.
His home, away, and neutral record
Anderson claimed 438 scalps on home soil at an average of 24.41. He has 24 five-wicket hauls with the best performance of 7/42. In 76 away matches (home of opposition), Anderson bagged 244 scalps at 30.66. He has eight five-wicket hauls under his belt. Meanwhile, in six matches in neutral venues, the speedster claimed 22 scalps at 20.54.
