International Career
James Anderson is the most exceptional swing pace bowler in the history of cricket and the finest cultivation of English cricket ever. “Age is just a number” - he had always proved it as generally, any cricketer retires in their late thirties but Anderson set an absolute example despite being a pacer. He was born on July 30, 1982, in Burnley, England, while his tall height, England’s environment, and pitch forced him naturally to emerge as a pace bowler. He had continued playing for more than two decades which is nothing but a wonder in the history of cricket for any pace bowler.
In his early days, his sheer pace with gifted swing on both sides made his way butter-smooth in domestic cricket which eventually gave him a chance to make his debut in international cricket for England. Over time, he had proved himself again and again on the domestic and international pitches. Now let’s look into the journey of his international career at a glance:
- December 15, 2002:Anderson debuted ODI in the big match of Australia vs England at Melbourne. He took his first international wicket by bowling to Australia’s legendary keeper-batter, Adam Gilchrist.
- May 22, 2003:A few months later, he debuted for the England test team at Lord's against Zimbabwe. His test debut was so impressive and he achieved a 5 wicket haul with an economy of 4.56.
- ICC 2010 T20 World Cup:He was a member of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2010. England made its first-ever ICC title by beating Australia in the final. He had closely watched the victory of England although he was not included in the playing XI.
- Ashes (2006-2023):He had played 39 matches from 2006 to 2023 in Ashes. This is one of the toughest test battles in the history of world cricket and he proved himself in this stage for years after years. His performance was too impressive with a total of 117 wickets. It made him the 8th in the list of most wicket-takers of all time in the ashes. His bowling contribution left a significant impact on England to clinch the win against Australia.
- April 17, 2015: He had passed the mark of Sir Ian Botham’s record of 383 test wickets in April 2015. This made him the highest test match wicket-taker of all time. From there, he continuously crossed the mark of 400 wickets,500 wickets, 600 wickets, and 700 wickets over time.
- August 25, 2020: He crossed the mark of taking 600 wickets on August 25, 2020, against Pakistan which led to the only fast bowler to take 600 or more wickets.
- March 9, 2024: He took his 700th test wicket in Dharamshala on the India tour, making him the first pacer in test cricket to reach this milestone.
- July 12, 2024: Anderson retired on 12th July 2024 from international cricket at the age of 42 which was incredible. It was not so easy to maintain the fitness level at this age, especially for a pace bowler. Despite being a pacer, he continued his journey for the England Cricket team and gave them so many titles while becoming the greatest pace bowler of all time.
Records and Achievement
James Anderson’s career is decorated with numerous records that underscore his greatness as a cricketer. He holds mostly different test records related to his bowling performances. Some of his awards and key records are mentioned below.
Awards:
Being the finest test cricket for England for decades, Anderson earned some precious awards in his career. Let us have a closer look at them.
- Anderson was nominated as one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 2009.
- He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to cricket in 2015. He received the award on 11 February 2016.
- His name was included in the ICC Test Team of the Year multiple times (2010,2011,2013,2017,2022).
Records:
James achieved some awesome and inhuman records that any fast bowler can only daydream. Here are a few of the numerous records of his career:
- He is the most wicket-taker for England with a total of 991 wickets.
- Leading 3rd wicket-taker of all time in Test cricket history with over 700 wickets.
- Most wickets in a Test match career for an English bowler.
- He had played the 2nd most test matches in a career after the Cricket’s God Sachin Tendulkar.
- He was the first pace bowler to achieve the 600 wicket milestone.
- Holds the record for the most matches played by a fast bowler in Test cricket.
- 7th Most five test wickets in an innings in a career.
- He had the most wickets taken by a wicketkeeper in test matches.
- He is the 3rd fastest test bowler to take 700 wickets.
- He had the longest test career of 21 years 53 days. (after 1990).
- He was the first test bowler to bowl above forty thousand deliveries (40037).
- He had 32 five-wicket hauls, the highest for England in test cricket.
- Interestingly he holds the record for most not-outs in test cricket history with 114 not-outs.
- Partnership with Stuart Broad: Anderson and Broad formed the most successful bowling partnership in Test cricket history, with over 1,000 wickets between them.
Personal Life
He was born on 30 July 1982 and his schooling was started at RC High School in Burnley where he also started cricket at Burnley Cricket Club. His father Micheal was the captain of the club's second XI. Having a cricketing culture in the house, he developed his keen interest in the “Gentleman’s Game” from his early childhood, which eventually turned him into one of the finest fast bowlers in the Lancashire Leagues. He had also worked in the ticket office of Burnley as a part-time job. He had started a venture in fashion design in 2012. He was the face of Hairbond in 2013 (a British hair styling brand) and also worked with Chess London menswear brand.
Family Life
James’ parents are Michael Anderson and Catherine Anderson. He met Daniella Lloyd in 2004 on England duty in London and later he married her in 2006. James and Daniella have two daughters together named Lola Rose and Ruby Luxe. Anderson seems to be a quiet ‘Family Man’ as he once mentioned in an interview that his marriage had made him happier and lauded his married life heavily which reflects his adoration for his family.
Financial Standing
While he never participated in any T20 cricket leagues, the ECB gave him a healthy contract to make him focus on red-ball cricket. His estimated net worth is around $20 million (approximately INR 160 crore). The annual Salary of £800,000 (approx INR 9 crore) was paid to him by the ECB.
Cars and House
He owns a luxurious two-story 3515 square foot home in Cheshire although the exact value of this property is unknown. His passion for luxury is not limited to his house, his multiple luxury four-wheeler collection can amaze anybody. In his car fleet, the BMW M3 and an Audi RS6 depict the beauty of cars and the status of endless luxury. According to the reports, these cars cost around 93 lakhs and 1.92 crores in INR respectively.
Scandals
Anderson faced some serious allegations and controversies in his decade-long career. In the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia, few images showed Anderson tempering the ball with their fingers. From multiple camera angles, it was evident that he was digging his nail into the ball which indicated ball tampering. Later Anderson denied all the allegations.
Anderson led incidents with Jasprit Bumrah, Michael Clarke, and Ravindra Jadeja and with many other cricketers. While he looks very calm, sometimes his bowling aggression leads him to multiple controversial incidents with many players. One of them happened in 2014 when he had physically pushed Jadeja intentionally from back outside the ground. That created a serious controversy between these two players.
There was another new highlight on his controversial old tweets telling “lesbian haircuts” to Stuart Broad in 2010 when Robinson's racist tweets emerged. Later he deleted his old tweets but it was too late as the screenshots of the tweet were spreading over the internet.
Fan Base
James Anderson is the inspiration of a lot of aspiring cricketers, especially fast bowlers across the world. He has an amazing fan base of more than 3 million social media platforms. On Facebook, he has 2.2 million followers, and on Instagram 1 million followers. He frequently shares his cricketing journey, life updates with the fans on these platforms, which helps him to stay connected with his diverse fan groups all over the world.
