James Anderson

Born: July 30, 1982, Burnley, Lancashire 

Role: Fast bowler

Debut: 2001

England’s leading wicket-taker in Test match cricket, with more than 750 first-class scalps and hundreds of appearances in all formats for his country, James Anderson is a living legend and, even at the age of 34, he remains one of the deadliest new-ball bowlers in the game.

With three Ashes titles and 467 wickets in Tests, Anderson can be described as one of the most influential players of a generation. Alongside new-ball ally Stuart Broad, the Burnley paceman became renowned for his penchant over Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara, some of the deadliest batsmen in the history of cricket.

When called upon, he is also a more than handy lower-order batsman himself, regularly pulling England and Lancashire out of a desperate situation. In 2014, he stunned India to record a 198-run partnership with Joe Root at Trent Bridge, the highest last-wicket stand in Test match history.

Anderson has made influential appearances for the Red Rose county since making his one-day debut in 2001, but he has been a regular fixture of the England squad ever since he burst onto the international stage. He claimed five wickets on Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s, having featured in the 2002/03 World Cup squad against Australia the previous summer at the age of 20.

In April 2015, he usurped Ian Botham’s record as the leading wicket-taker for England in Test cricket, taking his tally to 383 against West Indies in Antigua. The following month saw Anderson become the first England bowler to claim 400 Test scalps – the 12th player in history to achieve the feat – and he has continued to climb up the rankings ever since.

Currently, only five bowlers have more wickets than Anderson in the five-day format: Courtney Walsh, Glenn McGrath, Anil Kumble, Shane Warne and former Lancashire teammate Muttiah Muralitharan, who tops the chart with precisely 800 victims.

He has 23 five-wicket hauls and career-best figures of 7-43 came against New Zealand at arguably the peak of his career in 2008 at Trent Bridge. Nottingham holds fond memories for Anderson with bat and ball and he continues to exploit the favourable swing bowling conditions for county and country.

He claimed ten wickets in the opening game of an Ashes series at Trent Bridge and the following year he struck a maiden Test fifty and a career-best score of 84 in the process of his record-breaking stand with Root, earning him the nickname ‘The Burnley Lara’.

After a disastrous Ashes series down under in 2013/14 resulted in a 5-0 triumph for the old enemy, Anderson led a resurgence the following summer to help England win 3-2. In the final game of the 2015 season, Anderson collected his best figures in a Lancashire shirt (7-77) against Essex at Chelmsford.