James Anderson is all set to break Glenn McGrath’s record for most Test wickets by a fast bowler, but McGrath isn’t fussed about being toppled from the perch. If anything, he says he will be ‘proud’ of the Englishman’s achievement when it comes.
McGrath retired from Test cricket after the 2006-07 Ashes, incidentally the only time he played against Anderson, with 563 wickets to his name, well ahead of Courtney Walsh’s tally of 519 wickets but well behind the overall mark of 800, which stands in Muttiah Muralitharan’s name.
Anderson has now worked his way to 557 and could well get the seven wickets for the record by the end of the ongoing home series against India, which England are leading 2-1 with two matches to go.
According to McGrath, this could be because Anderson used to face some struggles with the Kookaburra ball in his earlier days – a problem he feels the Englishman has addressed through the course of career.
“When Jimmy plays at home with the Dukes ball he’s second to none, but he has had to learn how to operate overseas with the Kookaburra ball that, to me, is not nearly as good to bowl with. It took him a while but he’s done that now,” said McGrath.
“Once Jimmy goes past me it will be interesting to see where he wants to set the bar. With the nature of the game these days, and the amount of Twenty20 cricket, I believe no fast bowler will ever go past him.”
