England seamer sixth bowler and third seamer to reach milestone
Friday 8 September 2017 22:26, UK
James Anderson has become the first Englishman to take 500 Test wickets after bowling Windies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite on day two of the third Test at Lord's.
Anderson is the sixth bowler to achieve the feat and the third seamer, after Glenn McGrath (563) and Courtney Walsh (519).
The 35-year-old claimed his 500th wicket in his 129th Test, just over 14 years after he bagged his first by bowling Zimbabwe's Mark Vermeulen on his Test debut, also at Lord's, in May 2003.
Anderson began the third Test on 497 wickets and moved to 499 in Windies' first innings when he had Brathwaite and Kyle Hope caught behind by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.
The paceman soon followed his 500th wicket with his 501st, when he bowled Kieran Powell with a superb delivery that swung in, nipped back off the seam and dislodged the left-hander's off-bail.
Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619) are the only other players to pass 500 Test wickets.
Anderson has taken 23 Test-five-fors, including 5-76 in the second Test defeat against Windies at Headingley last week, and 10 wickets in a match on three occasions - twice at Trent Bridge and once at Leeds.
The Lancashire seamer overtook Sir Ian Botham as England's leading Test wicket-taker against Windies in the Caribbean in 2015, when Denesh Ramdin edged to slip in Antigua to become his 384th victim.
Stuart Broad topped Botham's 383 Test wickets to move second on England's all-time list when he bowled Shane Dowrich in the day-night first Test against Windies at Edgbaston in August.
