Published 15:06 IST, December 25th 2019
England's Anderson set to break another record, will become 2nd English player to do so
James Anderson will be breaching yet another record as he joins former skipper Alastair Cook in becoming the second England cricketer to play 150 Test games
England's record wicket-taker James Anderson will be breaching yet another record as he joins former skipper Alastair Cook in becoming the second England cricketer to play 150 Test games. Anderson, who recently made it back to the England line-up, is the side's premier pacer who spearheads the bowling in the longer format of the game and has been one of their most successful bowlers over the last decade. With 575 wickets and an average of 26.94 in Tests, Anderson has already expressed his will to continue until the next Ashes series and has categorically stated that he still has the fire and desire to continue playing the game, despite being marred by injuries. England will take on South Africa in the first Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.
James Anderson archives yet another rare feat
200: Sachin Tendulkar (IND)
168: Ricky Ponting (AUS)
168: Steve Waugh (AUS)
166: Jacques Kallis (SA)
164: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
164: Rahul Dravid (IND)
161: Alastair Cook (AUS)
156: Allan Border (ENG)
149: James Anderson* (ENG)
Anderson back in action
Anderson, who suffered a calf injury after bowling four overs in the first Test against Australia at Edgbaston in August, bowled two spells. He sent down six overs with the new ball, conceding 30 runs, and a more impressive five-over spell after lunch when he took one for seven. Anderson ended a 131-run third-wicket stand between Kabelo Sekhukhune (65) and Jacques Snyman (79) when he had Sekhukhune caught behind. Woakes followed up with his three-wicket burst, using the short ball effectively.
"It was a different role, really, bowling a few bouncers. The wicket wasn't responding too much from a length, so at lunchtime we felt we had to change it up a bit, find different ways to get wickets."
England squad
Joe Root (capt), Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Joe Denly, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wkt), Chris Woakes or Sam Curran or Jack Leach, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Updated 15:06 IST, December 25th 2019