ENG vs SA: James Anderson Becomes First Man To Achieve This Rare Feat In Tests

England’s premier pacer James Anderson has become the first cricketer in the world to achieve an incredible feat when he took the field for the side in the second Test of the series against South Africa on Thursday.

The veteran pacer already holds the record for most Test wickets (658) and most Tests (174) played for England. Anderson also has one of the longest careers for England given that he had made his debut in Tests in 2003 against Zimbabwe and is one of the few fast bowlers above the age of 40 to play Test cricket.

Meanwhile, South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first in the second Test of the three-match series which is being played at Old Trafford, Manchester. South Africa made one change with Simon Harmer coming in for Marco Jansen, while England had already announced that Ollie Robinson will replace Matthew Potts in their XI.

James Anderson Creates History

When James Anderson took the field in the second Test against South Africa in Manchester, he set a new record for playing the most number of Tests in one country. Tendulkar played 94 Tests in India and Anderson became the first cricketer to feature in 100 Tests in a country, England.

Apart from Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting (92 Tests, Australia) and Anderson’s fellow teammate Stuart Broad (91 Tests, England) are third and fourth respectively in the list for most Tests in a country.

Anderson, who turned 40 last month, has played in 174 Tests so far, has taken a staggering 658 wickets in the format, and currently stands at third position in the list of highest wicket-takers – only behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia’s Shane Warne (708).

England trails 0-1 in the three-Test series against the Proteas who won in Lord’s by an innings and 12 runs.

Also Read: India vs Pakistan: When I Said That, People Took My Class- Sikander Bakht Massive Claim On Shaheen Afridi