by Arunabha Sengupta
600 wickets. For a pace bowler.
A magnificent achievement, worthy of much of the accolades that are going around.
We can perhaps take a kindly view of the English (and cricket) media trying to convince us it’s the best thing since Normandy landing.
From the summer of 2014, Anderson has been nothing less than phenomenal.
257 wickets in 64 Tests at an average of 21.61.
His last six years are comparable to the whole career of Fred Trueman, generally acknowledged to be the greatest fast bowler of England.
His bowling average has been hauled up from 30.67 at the end of the 2013-14 season to 26.79 as it stands now. Better than Botham and Thomson.
Unlike Imran and Kapil, his workload has not gone down. A steady 19 overs per innings all through.
Anderson had to play 156 Test matches to get 600 wickets.
To remain fit enough to do so, and go on bowling at his best when he is 38, is a tribute to his sustained excellence.
BUT
Perhaps we have gone a trifle overboard in this fitness and longevity factor—helped no doubt by the media—branding it as a near-impossible achievement.
Taking nothing away from his feat, we must remember than England play way more Test matches than any other country.
During the career of Anderson, England have played 224 Test matches.
The corresponding figures for other countries:
Australia 194, India 177, South Africa 167, Sri Lanka 160, West Indies 155, New Zealand 141, Pakistan 139, Bangladesh 102.
So, Anderson has missed 68 Test matches as well. Through his 17 years in international cricket, he played 69.64% of the possible Test matches.
If we consider this from the summer of 2008 when he became a regular in the side, Anderson played 134 of 158 Tests of England, a whopping 84% … Which is truly a splendid achievement.
Now let us look at two fast bowlers, both rather faster than him, who had similar long careers.
Courtney Walsh, in his 17-year career from 1984 to 2001, played 132 of the 142 Tests contested by West Indies. That is an incredible 92.96%. That is testimony to superior fitness.
But West Indies played just 142 Tests in this period.
In the same span, England played 173, Australia 170.
Given Walsh ended with 519 wickets, we can perhaps estimate how much he would have got if West Indies had played 173 Tests like England.
Walsh, considering the same fitness level, would have played 161. We can estimate that 161 Tests would have seen him finish with 633 wickets.
If we assume WI played 224 Tests in those 17 years, Walsh would play an estimated 208 and capture 818 wickets!
Richard Hadlee played for 17 years from 1973 to 1990.
He played 86 Tests of the 100 New Zealand contested.
That is again testimony to better fitness levels.
During those 17 years, England played 183 Tests, Australia 166, West Indies 139, India 136, Pakistan 123. New Zealand just 100.
I suppose we can say Hadlee was incredibly hard-done by the fewer Tests New Zealand played.
If New Zealand had played 183 Tests like England, we can estimate Hadlee playing 86% of them, that is 157. And given he captured 434 wickets in 86 Tests, his estimated tally would have been 792!
And if New Zealand played 224, Hadlee at the same rate would have ended up playing an estimated 192, but his haul of wickets is a massive 969!!
So yes, Anderson has been a fantastic bowler, with spectacular sustained excellence and constant improvement down the years. He demonstrated admirable fitness levels. His record overseas is perhaps not that unimpressive, but he is a bona fide great at home.
But, this is not really an unprecedented level of longevity and fitness that it is being projected as.
Perhaps that bit needs to be tempered a wee bit.