On Thursday, as he prepared to leave international cricket, England great James Anderson broke a global record. Right now, Anderson is participating in his last Test match for England at Lord’s against the West Indies. West Indies are behind England by 171 runs after Day 2 action, with their second innings standing at 79/6. West Indies opened the batting and scored 121, but the hosts responded with 371 in their opening innings.
The third and final day of play, which is scheduled for Friday, could see the end of the match, but in the meanwhile, Anderson has accomplished a tremendous milestone: on Thursday, he became the first fast bowler to bowl 40,000 or more deliveries in the history of Test cricket. Over the course of 188 games, Andeson has bowled 40,001 deliveries.
He will have a chance to add to his tally on Friday.
Test cricket’s most balls bowled:
Muttiah Muralitharan: 44,039 (133 Tests)
Anil Kumble: 40,850 (132 Tests)
Shane Warne: 40,705 (145 Tests)
James Anderson: 40,001 (188 Tests*)
Stuart Broad: 33,698 (167 Tests)
Anderson comes in fourth place behind the illustrious spin trio of Muralitharan, Kumble, and Warne on the list of most balls bowled in international cricket across all formats.
Most balls bowled in international cricket:
Muttiah Muralitharan: 63132 (495 Matches)
Anil Kumble: 55,346 (403 Matches)
Shane Warne: 51,347 (339 Matches)
James Anderson: 49,883 (400 Matches*)
Daniel Vettori: 43,661 (442 Matches)
So far, Anderson has taken three wickets in the ongoing Test and his overall tally stands at 703. With just four more West Indies wickets left to grab, Anderson will not be able to match Warner’s tally of 708 wickets which means he will continue to be the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.
Most wickets in Test cricket:
Muttiah Muralitharan: 800 (133 Tests)
Shane Warne: 708 (145 Tests)
James Anderson: 703 (188 Tests*)
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