England pacer James Anderson become the first specialist bowler in the history of the sport to play 150 Test matches. Anderson received his 150th Test cap in the first Test against South Africa at Centurion on Thursday. He made his debut in the longest format of the game against Zimbabwe at Lord’s as a 20-year-old on May 22, 2003. He has since emerged as one of the finest fast bowlers that the world has ever seen. Heading into his 150th match, Anderson has taken a whopping 575 wickets at an average of 26.94.
Anderson also finds himself the 7th spot in the list of players with the most number of Test matches. The overall tally is led by India’s Sachin Tendulkar (200), followed by Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh (168), Jacques Kallis (166), S Chanderpaul and Rahul Dravid (164), Alastair Cook (161) and Allan Border (156).
As for England, Anderson is second on the list, behind former skipper Cook – who had played 161 matches for the national team. Broad (135*), Alec Stewart (133) and Ian Bell/Graham Gooch (118) complete the top 5.
