James Anderson becomes first English bowler in history to take 500 Test wickets, 6th overall

Reuters

New Delhi: It has been a long wait, but finally a moment to savour for English Cricket. Pacer James Anderson, on Friday, scalped his 500th Test wicket during day 2 of the third and final Test match against West Indies at the Lord's. Ergo, Anderson joined an elite group of legends, becoming the first English bowler to breach the milestone.

It has indeed been long! James Anderson had bagged an impressive five-wicket haul in the second Test match in the series. The tally had reached 497. The second innings was yet to go and he needed just three wickets. But the 35-year-old failed to scalp any further as the 500th mark seemed have deserved a wait.

Heading into the decider, the pacer bagged to early wickets in the first innings of Windies batting after the tourists elected to bat. Hea reached 499. Just one more to go. And Ben Stokes carshed the party with an astounding 6/22, his career-best as Jason Holder's men were bundles out for 123 runs. Another round of wait. But it seemed quick. Kemar Roach wreaked a havoc, taking a five-for as England crumbled down with 194 runs on the board. And finally, the moment for Anderson arrived.

His second over of the innings. Opener Kraig Brathwaite was at the receiving end. Last ball, fullish in length, was a lethal inswinger as the ball angled in, deceived the batsman and clattered against the stumps. What a delivery to claim his 500th! Anderson leaped in joy as the teammates surrounded him. A sure moment to savour! He became the first England bowler to reach the milestone.

Here it is! 500th Test wicket for @Jimmy9!!! #Jimmy500

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— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 8, 2017

In total, he is the sixth. Windies legend Courtney Walsh was the first ever to achieve the feat back in 2001 when he had dismisses Jacques Kallis during a Test match in Port of Spain. Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath and Anil Kumble are the other four bowlers on the list. However, both Walsh and Anderson are the only two bowlers to have played most number of Tests to achieve this mark – 129 matches. Incidentally, McGrath too had claimed his 500th at the same venue back in 2005 and there again both the teams were bowled out for a score below 200 runs.

Leading the wicket-takers list in Test cricket is still Muralitharan with 800 scalps followed by Shane Warne (708), Kumble (619), McGrath (563) and finally Walsh (519). Adding to it, with his 500th wicket, he now surpassed Heath Streak to go atop on the list of most wickets by a pacer at a venue. Anderson now has 84 wickets at Lord's. The English pacer now is the leading wicket-taker among all active bowlers. Below him are South Africa's Dale Steyn and Indian offie Harbhajan Singh at second position with 417 Test wickets each. 

What has been truly commendable for the pacer, is his journey so far. Battling against the likes of Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, and Simon Jones, the Lancashire seamer struggled to put his name on the playing XI and today he bagged a milestone that no other English bowler had even inched closer to the mark.