Top 5 Test wicket-takers in 2017

#4 James Anderson - 55 wickets

Anderson possesses the best average among the top five wicket-takers in 2017

It was befitting of the veteran's stature that England's only chance of securing a favourable result (when the series was still alive) came when their spearhead James Anderson scythed through Australia's second-innings in Adelaide. While the Ashes may be gone and the visitors continue to remain win-less, the 35-year old did his reputation no harm by showing that he did not need the Dukes ball to weave his magic.

2017 saw Anderson becoming only the third fast bowler in Test history to complete 500 scalps. During the course of the Melbourne Test, he even went past Courtney Walsh's tally of 519 wickets. From 11 matches in the calendar year, the experienced campaigner picked 55 wickets at a splendid average of 17.58 and strike-rate of 46.4 including a career best haul of 7/42 against West Indies at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground.