When people watch James Anderson bowl, they see the skill, the detail and the accuracy that goes into his work. They see a man so successful at what he does that his achievements are now close to becoming unrivalled by any other seam bowler in Test history.
What most may not see, however, is the pain and discomfort Anderson goes through to achieve such greatness. His left shoulder, due to his workload across 17 years of international cricket, has been a problem for a long time now. It forced him to miss the 2016 tour to Bangladesh, and meant he had to take a six-week break from cricket following the Pakistan Test series in June. In the build-up to the current series against India, Anderson only played a specially arranged second-team match and one first-class game.
So, as Anderson walked off the Lord’s pitch after spearheading another England win at Lord’s, all the pain in his shoulder seemed irrelevant. He is now just 11 wickets away from breaking Glenn McGrath’s Test record for most wickets by a seamer and, as a result, reaching immortality. It’s the sacrifice he has made for greatness. And no matter how bad the pain gets after he retires, it will all be worth it.
