Only six bowlers have taken more than 500 Test match wickets.
Jimmy Anderson, with a second innings seven-wicket haul against the West Indies in last months Lord’s Test became the first Englishman, and the sixth player to reach that milestone.
However, is Jimmy Anderson on par with the other five greats? Or put simply, Is Jimmy Anderson a great bowler?
To answer this, let’s look at the other five first.
The two spinners at the top of the tree were remarkable bowlers. Muttiah Muralitharan took 800 wickets and along with Chaminda Vass, carried the bulk of the bowling duties for his nation for 15 years.
Shane Warne brought a whole new level of accuracy and quality to a dying art.
He made leg spin attractive again, and his ability helped Australia into an era of dominance.
Anil Kumble excelled in home conditions, but as a thinking man’s cricketer, he could still perform admirably in conditions not suited to him. His bounce and accuracy allowed him to go right through any opposition.
Glenn McGrath was a simple bowler.
He had an ability to land six balls on the same spot, with his only movement being an off cutter mixed with a straight ball.
Once he had honed his craft by the Windies tour of 1995, he celebrated 12 years at the top with a simple method not overly affected by injury.
He ended with 563 Test wickets.
Courtney Walsh, like McGrath, would combine great length with longevity to be the first bowler ever to break 500.
He enjoyed success early in his career before being part of the decline of the once great West Indies. However, he was not to be blamed. His 519 wickets were defined by their quality right to the end.
Homer Gain
Guest
Beefy was a great all-rounder but perhaps only a very good bowler.
Brendon
Guest
Botham, Underwood and Willis better than Anderson.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Anderson is a superb bowler in English conditions, but he was not effective outside England. It would be proved right in the coming Ashes Series this year.
John Erichsen
Guest
Jimmy Anderson is a good bowler but not even close to being in the same league as the truly great English quicks. He, like so many players of the modern era, have inflated numbers due to the increased amount of test matches played. Comparing him to McGrath and Walsh is silly. A more reasonable comparison would be with Mike Hendrick, Chris Old and Angus Fraser. The next suggested English "all time great quick" will be Stuart Broad who is on par with such devastating pace bowlers as Darren Gough and Geoff Arnold. A touch of realism please.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I don't know if Jimmy is a 'great' - I suspect he isn't, but if you ever wanted to see a bowler take maximum advantage of the new ball and favourable conditions, he's your man. Have loved watching some of the balls he's sent down, and he doesn't mind making a batsman look a bit out of their depth with an unplayable late inswinger Watch the 7-43 clip on youtube against New Zealand, the two balls he produces to send Redmond and McCullum packing are, in the words of Geoffrey Boycott "absolute corkers" personally though I think Steyn was a better swing bowler when he could be bothered to try for it
DavSA
Guest
Problem is that stats are the only direct measurement cricket has .Yes they can give false impressions but by and large I feel I can rely on them .As to the article , Anderson's stats are impressive but he has also , unusually for a quick been remarkably injury free. So I will peg him as one of England's best ever but globally no . Mitch Johnson's stats are strangely average but ask any and I mean any cricketer in the world who they would rather not face .
matth
Guest
Waddaplaya. A true genius. For pure skill I'd have Marshall right at the top of the heap, along with Hadlee, Lillee, Wasim Akram and Steyn.
DaveJ
Guest
Just looking at how many wickets someone takes is fatuous. So what if he’s taken more wickets than Malcolm Marshall, Dennis Lillee, Wasim Akamai or Richard Hadlee? He’s still not fit to tie their bootlaces. Ditto for Courtney Walsh? You think he was as good as Ambrose? Just comparing with others who’ve taken over 500 is idiotic. Sure, performing over a long period is an important test, but averages and how good bowlers were at their peak years is the real test. How The Roar gives space to people who talk about numbers but seem to have no clue what they represent is beyond me.
Jake
Guest
If an Australian team has never been as good as the West Indies then he should do very well against them but he hasn't. wake up
Johnno
Guest
Doing well vs Australia is not the measurement whether your great or not.. The Australian side is not like the great West Indies sides never has been wake up...
AREH
Roar Guru
Realy wish NCN was about to turn 20 and not 30. Still some time for him to make more inroads at international level
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
SM Good point . I remember Anderson in his formative tears running around with dyed pink/red hair - summed up his early career.
dangertroy
Roar Rookie
I don't know the selectors do have an aversion to picking 2 left armers - Johnson and Starc played together for almost a year leading up to Johnson's retirement, including the entire 2015 ashes series. I think if 2 of our best 3 pace bowlers were lefties they would pick them, they are just less common than right armers, which is why the side always seems stacked with them. I also don't think we should automatically pick a left armer for 'variety'.
Andy Hill
Roar Pro
6 West Australians! Is that because of their vast test match experience? Oh wait, none of the WA fast bowlers have any test match experience. Siddle should not be ruled out. If Starc or Cummins went down, then I would replace with NCN, Behrendorff or Tremain. But Hazlewood plays a different role. If he went down, I would consider Bird, Sayers or Siddle, depending on who shows the best form and fitness in the opening 3 shield games
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
No bowler in the history of cricket has bowled so much shi$ and taken as many wickets . Half of beefy's wickets were accumulated through balls a meter outside off stump - thumped to third man, cover, point , extra cover, long off. Most batsman always had a swipe at his bowling because they genuinely didn't like him.
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
Azza Hadlee was awesome with an incredible motor but did he really swing the ball massively ? I remember him as more of a wicket to wicket bowler who had phenomal accuracy , not swing . In a few ways there are a lot of similarities between Hadlee and McGrath - metronomic pin point craftsman .
Azza
Guest
Richard Hadlee was a superior swing bowler to any of them, he is merely forgotten or underrated, due to where he comes from,had minimal support at the other end to keep pressure on, and if it wasn't swinging he could still get batsman out, and in his era, ie, no 20/20 bs, the batsman didn't gift their wicket to ridiculous shots!
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
Snow was no where near the great fast bowler Trueman was , not even close ! Freddy was genuinely terrifying and bowled long spells without ever dropping his pace . If Freddy had not come from Yorkshire he would be rightly heralded as one of England's greatest ever sportsman . The Toffs at Lords hated him because he was a Northerner who always spoke his mind . In many ways, he was the antithesis of an English Gentleman back then and the prawn sandwich brigade begrudged him . Trueman was a great, great bowler in the same vein as Dennis Lillee .
Don Freo
Guest
Behrendorff, NCN (both swing it more than Siddle), Sayers, Bird, Mennie, ...virtually the whole world...are ahead of Carrot Power Pete. 6 West Australians for a start.
Don Freo
Guest
NCN's injury issue was mainly the shoulder injury coming from an impact when diving in the field. That's not vulnerable soft tissue stuff. He had a tweak after that but he is one strong boy. Behrendorff's injury has just been one injury...not a series of them. His action is so fluent, I would hope he will be fine. It doesn't really matter, though. If one bowler is injured, we just replace them with the next. There is such a wonderful wealth of fast bowling at the moment.