James Anderson is the very definition of longevity – which has allowed him to take a remarkable 332 wickets after the age of 30

When it came, it came as so many have come before. James Anderson, making something happen, finding something extra, something England’s other bowlers had been unable to find. A bit more bounce on a pitch which had hardly been bouncing. Just a hint of seam movement in to the batsman on a pitch which had offered nothing of the sort on day four. Azhar Ali’s attempted cut shot was morphed into a too-close-to-prod prod. Caught at first slip. It took Anderson into Test cricket’s 600 club. Only the true greats are allowed in there.

All those wickets have not just fallen into Anderson’s lap. Like all fast-bowlers, he has had to break his back for them, strain every sinew for them, work and work and work for them. He has played 156 Test matches so far. Only seven others in the history of the game have played more and none of them were frontline fast-bowlers. At the time of his 600th wicket, Anderson had delivered 5,619.5 overs in Test cricket, the most by any fast bowler in the game’s history. That’s 33,717 balls. Thirty three thousand, seven hundred and seventeen balls. Next on the list is Courtney Walsh who is more than 3,000 deliveries behind. These numbers are the real measure of Anderson the bowler. These numbers are incredible.

Anderson and Broad are the last of a dying breed. Their type of fast-bowling longevity will become extinct when they eventually retire. The sort of long Test careers they have had were more common in the past. Before them came the likes of Glenn McGrath and Walsh, Kapil Dev and Sir Richard Hadlee, Sir Ian Botham and Imran Khan. The Test careers of all of those players spanned at least 15 years. That was not uncommon in the eighties, nineties and noughties where less international cricket was played and there were two formats, not three, reducing the toll on fast-bowlers’ bodies.

That is not the case now, of course. For England, India and Australia in particular, the international calendar is packed with all formats. When there is not international cricket to be played, there is T20 franchise tournaments to take part in almost all year round. For the very best of the current generation of quicks who play all formats – think Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah – there is hardly any time off. As such, their careers are likely to be shorter, if fuller, and they are more likely to retire from Test cricket earlier to play a few more seasons in T20 competitions.

For any fast-bowler to reach Anderson and Broad’s longevity, they would have to enter the Test match arena young, for a country that plays a good amount of matches each year – so basically Australia, England or India – continually eschew the rewards of the T20 franchise circuit, and probably specialise in the Test format altogether, and retain fitness, form and desire across a 15 year Test career. That’s before you even consider having the necessary skill. In theory, it could still be done. In practice, it would be wise not to hold your breath.

The perennial debate about where Anderson fits in the pantheon of Test greats will go on. He is undoubtedly one of them, of course. A true great of the game. But where does he rank compared to McGrath or Walsh or Steyn? In many ways, it’s a moot debate, if an interesting one to be discussed over a pint. In respect of his longevity, however, Anderson clearly stands alone. Playing 156 Test matches as a fast-bowler isn’t easy. If it was, a lot more would have done so. And if consistent high performance is characterised by the ability to repeat skills day in, day out, year after year, Anderson is the very definition of it. That longevity has allowed him to take a remarkable 332 wickets after the age of 30.

Aside from the obvious class that he has, and the ability to evolve he has shown, there are a number of other reasons for his longevity. First, and most simply, is his love of the game. Earlier this year, in Cape Town, he took five South African first innings wickets in his second game back after injury. He spoke after the third day’s play. “I sat down at the end of the day yesterday feeling like that is what I have missed,” Anderson said. “That proper hard day of Test cricket, proper graft. That’s why I still want to play cricket. That’s what I get a buzz out of, coming off the field after a day like that. A pretty hot day, you’re sweaty and you know you’ve put a shift in.

“I love that challenge that Test cricket brings. Putting in the hard yards in the field, having to graft for your wickets, having to try different fields, different plans. That’s what I love about the game and that’s why I want to keep playing.” Anderson plainly loves the game. He’s said before that if he wasn’t playing for England, he would still be turning out in club cricket on a Saturday with his mates. His desire to play every game and bowl every over is, and has been, remarkable. It has sustained him. Without it, he probably would have given it all up years ago. After all, Anderson has previously said that he has rarely bowled totally pain free for England. The hardships of life as a fast-bowler.

Anderson has a natural advantage in being lean and lithe. Bowling the amount of overs in Test cricket that he has is hard enough, let alone if he had tried to do it carrying extra bulk. Physique and genes is only part of it, though. Anderson also works extremely hard, but smartly, at his fitness. That effort away from the field is why he has been able to turn at the end of his mark and set off towards the bowling crease time and time again. He doesn’t train for the sake of it, he doesn’t waste overs in the nets. Instead, he bowls at match intensity for short and sharp periods, understanding what works for him.

There have been fitness problems of late. Anderson missed eight of England’s 11 Tests before the start of this summer and in two of those he did play, he was unable to finish the game, including that fixture in Cape Town, when he pulled up in the second innings with a cracked rib. But having been available for all six Tests this summer, those issues appear to be behind him for now. Indeed, Anderson says he feels the strongest he has for a while after having time during lockdown to focus on his fitness. As proof of that, his speeds have generally been up this summer.

More generally, Anderson has also benefitted from the introduction of central contracts, which came in in 2000, three years before he made his England bow. It has meant that he has played for Lancashire sparingly, saving his energies for the international scene. In addition to his 156 Tests, Anderson has played 97 other first-class matches. Contrast that with, say, Botham who played 300 first-class matches in addition to his 102 Tests.

While Anderson juggled Test and one-day cricket for the first 12 years of his international career, he has focused exclusively on the Test arena since 2015. He last played an ODI at that year’s World Cup. He has also largely avoided T20 cricket, playing just 44 games in his entire career. By contrast, Rabada, just 25 years old, has already played 81 T20s. While Anderson has given up white-ball to focus on red, many others are now doing the opposite. The Lancastrian has generally saved his best overs for Test cricket.

When Anderson took his 500th wicket, bowling West Indian Kraigg Brathwaite at Lord’s in 2017, it seemed improbable that he would get to 600. At that time, it was expected he would have a couple more years left in him before he retired to the bright lights of Burnley. Now, at the occasion of his 600th, he is showing no signs of slowing down or giving the game away. He says he wants to carry on at least until next winter’s Ashes. Perhaps he will go on even longer than that.

How many scalps James Anderson will end up with is anybody’s guess. The only certainly? We won’t see his like again.