7 Of the finest spells by James Anderson

Way back in 2003, a young lad from Burnley with multi-colored hair dyes came into the English ranks of fast bowlers. Little did he know that from his first wicket, bowling to Zimbabwe's Mark Vermeulen at Lord's he would be part of elite 500 clubs of Test wickets scalping Kraigg Brathwaite at the same venue 14 years later.

Becoming only the sixth bowler to claim 500 Test wickets, Anderson joined fellow pace aces Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh and spin wizards Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble in the club.

For a bowler like Anderson, it was forever trying to develop, broaden his craft, perfect his art. From split seam grip, to making the ball wobble to develop mastery of reverse swing and cutters on the flat pitches of the sub-continent, he evolved as the best swing bowler of modern times.

The display of great skill and athleticism defines Anderson as the bowler he is today. On the cusp of surpassing Glenn McGrath in the next few matches, let us look at the finest spells of this legend.

---

#1 England vs Zimbabwe, Lord's 2003 (5/73)

Having made his ODI debut against Australia and backing it up with impressive performances at the World Cup meant Anderson was ready for the first Test of the 2003 English summer under huge expectations.

Anderson delivered more than expected with a brilliant 5-73 against a considerably weaker Zimbabwe outfit but what stood out was his grit in bowling full, fast, in-swinging yorkers, castling four out of his five victims.

#2 England vs Sri Lanka, Hevolved 2016 ( 5/16 & 5/29)

With an impeccable record at Leeds, Anderson came back to the venue with an intent to give it back to Sri Lankans who had won a series in England back in 2014 after dismissing Anderson in a high drama match.

After England posted 298 on board, Anderson came to the fore as Sri Lanka were bundled for a mere 91. He dismissed Kaushal Silva, caught behind in his first spell and came back even impressively in his second spell to destroy Lankans with 5/16.

In second innings, Anderson changed gears and ran through Sri Lankan batting with 5/29 as Sri Lanka were humbled for 119 to lose the match by an innings and 88 runs.

#3 England vs New Zealand, Wellington 2008 (5/73)

After the most dramatic and memorable Ashes 2005, the English bowlers Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones were out of form and developed fitness issues.

England played the first Test at Hamilton and were defeated thoroughly as the England pace duo Harmisson-Hoggard fared very poorly. England had to move on. Hence back in came Jimmy Anderson along with Stuart Broad.

Anderson ripped apart NZ line up, bagging seven wickets at Wellington, including a five-for in the first innings. From there, the remarkable partnership began between him and Broad which continues till today.

#4 England vs West Indies, 2017 (7/42)

The test match began in great anticipation of Anderson breaching the 500 Test wicket mark against Windies. Anderson had Brathwaite and Kyle Hope caught behind by Jonny Bairstow in the first innings at Lord's but remained on 499 wickets as Ben Stokes bagged 6-22 in the same innings.

But Anderson did not have to wait long for the milestone scalp, he castled Kraigg Brathwaite in his first spell in the second innings with a beautiful delivery which nipped back in between the bat and pad of Brathwaite.

Anderson went on to complete a career-best 7/42, beating his 7/43 against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2008 as England won the game and the series

#5 England vs India, Lords 2018 (5/20 & 4/23)

The Indian team had arrived to try and win their first series in England with a solid team on paper and test specialists lead by the aggressor, Kohli. Returning from an injury break, it was time for Anderson to get back to his rhythm.

After losing the first Test at Edgbaston by a narrow margin, India turned up at Lord's with high expectations. But Anderson had other ideas.

He tormented the Indian batsmen with his nagging accuracy and a great display of swing and seam bowling, moving the ball both ways under overcast conditions. He ended up with 5/20 in the first innings before returning back with another masterful 4/23 in the second innings.

#6 England vs Australia, Ashes 2017 (5/43)

This was probably the second toughest period in English Cricket, just before Ashes series with the Bairstow-headbutt incident and Stokes in dire trouble for a brawl outside a nightclub.

Amidst all this, there was time for Anderson to show his class. It was a rare blemish on his career till then, that Anderson had never taken a five-wicket haul in Australia.

But under immense pressure, the champion turned up during the day-night Test in Adelaide, under the lights, Anderson removed Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja during a superb spell of seam bowling, before returning the next day to dismiss Peter Handscomb, Nathan Lyon, and Mitchell Starc.

#7 England vs Australia, Trent Bridge 2013 (5/85 and 5/73)

Ecstatic English team

The 2013 Ashes began with a thriller, with Aussie Ashton Agar scoring 98 on debut, Ian Bell scoring his first hundred of the series, and Brad Haddin's 65-run partnership with James Pattinson.

It had everything in it. Australia's last-wicket pair took them to within 15 runs of victory, but up stepped Anderson - with nine wickets already in the match - to find the inside edge of Haddin's bat through to Matt Prior and England ran away with the victory.