Anderson
and Broad are, by some distance, England's leading Test wicket-takers and they
have taken plenty while on the field together - 851, to be exact, which is
behind only two other combos: Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, and Muttiah
Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. If we narrow things down to pace partnerships,
they are well out in front, having overtaken Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh
a while ago.
With
his second wicket during England's late rally in Barbados, James Anderson
claimed a significant - if slightly contrived - landmark for himself and
regular new-ball partner Stuart Broad. With 567 and 433 wickets respectively,
the English pair had reached 1000 in Tests, albeit with Broad currently out of
the team.
Should
Broaderson (Branderson?) be reunited on the field, either in the Caribbean or
during England's home season, they will be only the third pair of bowlers to
play together with 1000 Test wickets cumulatively - Warne and McGrath, who
retired at the same time, bowed out with a grand tally of 1271; Muralitharan
and Vaas had 1124 after their last joint-appearance in 2009.
Unsurprisingly,
they both have better records in English conditions, although the similarity in
proportion of wickets taken home and away - 65% at home for Anderson, 64% for
Broad - is interesting. Where Anderson swings it is with an average of 23.76 at
home, compared to 32.50* away; Broad averages a very respectable 27.09 in
England, and 32.43 elsewhere.
It
is on the green grass of home where they have combined to best effect, too.
Twice Anderson and Broad have shared 15 wickets in a match - scything through
New Zealand at Lord's in 2013, and Sri Lanka at Headingley in 2016. Lord's,
with its encouragement for swing and the assistance of the slope, has been a
fruitful hunting ground: four times have they collected 14 wickets or more at
HQ, with India, in 2011 and 2018, and West Indies, in 2012, the other teams put
to the sword.
On
the road, their best joint-return came just last year, with 13 wickets at
Christchurch - although that match will be remembered for the ones that got
away, as New Zealand hung on eight down for a draw. It was also a Test that saw
the most-recent of Broad's 16 five-wicket hauls. Whether he gets back in the
side to celebrate 1000-up with his old friend remains to be seen.
MOST WICKETS IN
TESTS TOGETHER
Bowling Pair Matches Wickets
1 MCGRATH-WARNE 104 1,001
2 MURALI-VAAS 95 895
3 BROAD-ANDERSON 111 851
4 WALSH-AMBROSE 95 762
5 WASIM-WAQAR 61 559
6 POLLOCK-KALLIS 93 547
7 NTINI-KALLIS 93 538
8 STEYN-MORKEL 62 522
9 KUMBLE-HARBHAJAN 54 501
*Stats
correct up to the close of day one in Barbados. With inputs from S Rajesh and
Bharath Seervi
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