James Anderson, the fast bowler from England, is one of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play the sport. 161 Test matches, 616 wickets in a career that spanned for almost two decades – speaks volumes about his greatness. Let’s look at some unknown facts about England’s highest wicket-taker.
Born in July 30, 1982, Anderson has spearheaded England’s pace attack alongside Stuart Broad since 2005. He went past Ian Botham s tally of 383 Test wickets and became the first Englishman to reach the 400-wicket mark.
Let us take a look at some unknown facts about England pacer James Anderson:
1. James Anderson didn’t like playing under Michael Vaughan
Anderson had played 21 Tests under Michael Vaughan; he picked up 76 wickets at 34.46, which was certainly not excellent by his standards. Much later, in an interview with BBC in 2012, he expressed his opinion about Vaughan a captain who had not been criticised by many, especially the Englishmen,
“Unfortunately, despite our cordiality now, I didn’t enjoy (Michael) Vaughan as a captain. A good captain should know how to talk to his team as individuals. I don’t think Vaughan ever had that in him a major reason I ve not held him in as high regard as others have. He was not as good a captain as others made out,” Anderson had said.
2. Rivalry with Tendulkar
Former India batter Sachin Tendulkar might be regarded as the greatest from his era but England pacer James Anderson dismissed him 9 times in 14 Tests, the most by any bowler in the format.
3. Not a lady killer
James Anderson is one of the most charming English cricketers. He is quite up-to-date with fashion and is a heartthrob to many women across the planet.
But the pacer is not a Casanova. Once Anderson admitted that he is very bad at talking to girls. However, just like his bowling, Anderson too is learning the art from the new English cricketers.
“I’m cr*p at talking to girls. I really need them to come and chat to me, but I’m learning a lot from the England guys,” Anderson had said once.
4. Resorting to owling to relieve tension
Owling is a variation on planking in which a person squats “like an owl” in a populated and uncommon area. Participants commonly make noises similar to an owl, to make the owl impression more realistic. Wikipedia.
Before the Lord’s against India in 2011), Anderson, along with Stuart Broad and Steve Finn, resorted to Owling to relieve tension. While Broad and Finn chose more conventional locations, Anderson owled on the Lord s balcony, no less.
5. Anderson came out in support of LGBT
Anderson had posed in the nude inside Attitude in September 2010 and was the first cricketer to do so Britain s largest-selling magazine for the homosexual to ward off homophobia.
He also sent out a simple message in an interview with BBC:
If there are any gay cricketers they should feel confident enough to come out because I don’t think there is any homophobia in cricket.