James Anderson bowled with his eyes shut and took 704 Test wickets
At the instant he releases the ball, James Anderson's head is down and his eyes are closed. Coaches tried to fix that action, and a former England fast bowler predicted in 2003 it would last only five years. Anderson kept it, played Test cricket into his forties and became the most prolific fast bowler the format has seen.
He grew up in Burnley, where his father captained the local club's second eleven and young Jimmy kept score for them at weekends. He also did part-time shifts in the ticket office of Burnley's football club, the team he still supports. Around 17, a growth spurt changed everything: he recalled simply starting to bowl fast one day, and he was soon among the quickest bowlers in the Lancashire League.
His rise was abrupt. Picked for England's one-day side after only five List A matches, he made his debut in Melbourne at 20, before Lancashire had even awarded him his county cap. In 2003 he took five wickets in his first Test innings, at Lord's, and later that summer produced the first one-day international hat-trick by an English bowler, against Pakistan. Then came setbacks. South Africa's captain Graeme Smith punished his bowling, a stress fracture in his back cost him most of 2006, and coaches spent 2004 and 2005 trying to remodel his action. When he tried bowling with his head up, he lost pace, so he went back to the old way.
The longevity that followed is remarkable. Anderson was part of the side that won the T20 World Cup in 2010, and in February 2023 he became the oldest man to top the Test bowling rankings. No fast bowler before him had reached 700 Test wickets, a mark he passed in March 2024. Only Sachin Tendulkar has played more Tests. Even with the bat he holds a share of a record: a tenth-wicket stand of 198 with Joe Root.
He retired from international cricket on 12 July 2024 with 704 Test wickets, yet did not stop. He returned to Twenty20 for Lancashire in 2025, joined a franchise in the Hundred, and was named the county's red-ball captain for 2026.
Source: James Anderson (cricketer)
