James Anderson

James Michael Anderson (born 30 July 1982) is an English cricketer who plays for the England and Wales cricket team and Lancashire, and previously played for England's limited overs cricket teams.

Anderson is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time.

He holds the record for most wickets by a pace bowler in Test cricket history, having taken 700 wickets as of 09 March, 2024.

Anderson made his competitive debut for the Lancashire Cricket Board in a List A one-day match against Suffolk in the 2000 NatWest Trophy, where he claimed the wicket of Russell Catley as his first competitive wicket.

Anderson later made his first-class debut for Lancashire in 2002; he played 13 matches and took 50 wickets at an average of 22.28, including three five-wicket hauls.

He took his maiden first-class wicket in May 2002, dismissing Ian Ward.

He was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award for Lancashire's Most Promising Young County Player in the 2002 season.

Anderson made his Test debut in 2003, played for England's One-Day International (ODI) team between 2002 and 2015, and played for England's Twenty20 International (T20I) team between 2007 and 2009.

In 2003, Anderson became the youngest player to take a hat-trick for Lancashire, just a week before his Test match debut against Zimbabwe; it was the first hat-trick at Old Trafford in eight years.

In a match against Worcestershire in May 2004, Anderson recorded his maiden first-class ten-wicket haul.

2005 was Anderson's first full season for Lancashire.

He was propelled into the England side soon after his Lancashire debut and had returned to rediscover his form after winter tours with England, where he had spent most of his time on the sidelines; when given a chance for England, he often experienced complications with bowling, due to a lack of match practice.

He finished the season with 60 first-class wickets at an average of 30.21 and 27 one-day wickets at an average of 22.00.

In 2006, he married Daniella Lloyd, a model he met in 2004 while on England duty in London; he stated that marriage has made him "a much happier person".

The couple have two daughters.

Anderson was prevented from playing much for Lancashire in the 2006 season by a stress fracture of the back sustained in early May.

He played in only two matches for Lancashire, and at one point, the Lancashire Cricket Board considered sending Anderson to play for Glamorgan to prove his fitness; however, Lancashire decided they would rather have Anderson play for them, even if only in a limited capacity.

In the only first-class match he played for Lancashire that season, he was limited to three four-over spells by the ECB, which was wary of him getting injured again.

In 2008, after the Test and One-Day series against South Africa ended at the beginning of September, Anderson was unavailable to play for Lancashire for the rest of the season.

He finished the season with 20 first-class wickets at 7.75 for Lancashire.

Anderson was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

Anderson became the first cricketer to model naked for Attitude, "Britain's biggest-selling gay magazine", in September 2010.

He stated, "If there are any gay cricketers, they should feel confident enough to come out, because I don't think there is any homophobia in cricket".

Anderson ventured into fashion design in 2012, designing for Elvis Jesus, with proceeds of the sale going to his sponsored charity, Nordoff-Robbins.

Anderson also agreed to be the face of British hair styling brand Hairbond in June 2013.

In April 2014, he launched his first collection with London-based menswear brand, Chess London.

He has stated that he would like to be "the first cricketer to become a designer".

He launched his own menswear brand in late October 2014, and has been working in conjunction with British watchmaker Harold Pinchbeck to release a watch since 2015.

On the occasion of England's 1,000th Test in 2018, Anderson was named in the country's greatest all-time Test XI by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

As of February 2024, he is ranked as the number seven Test bowler in the world in the ICC Men's Player Rankings.

Anderson plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler.

Among fast bowlers, he is the leading Test wicket-taker of all-time, being the first fast bowler to take 600 or more Test wickets, and in March 2024 he became the first fast bowler to take 700 wickets, and is England's record Test wicket-taker.

He has played the most Test matches for England, and the second-most of any cricketer, behind Sachin Tendulkar.

He is also England's highest wicket-taker in One Day Internationals with 269.

As a batsman, he and Joe Root hold the world record for highest tenth-wicket stand in Tests (198).

James Anderson was a pupil at St Mary's and St Theodore's RC High School in Burnley.

He played cricket at Burnley Cricket Club from a young age.

His childhood dream was to be a cricketer, and at the age of 17, after a growth spurt, Anderson was one of the fastest bowlers in the Lancashire League.

He stated "I've always bowled seam, but when I was about 17 I don't know what it was but I just started bowling fast all of a sudden".

He is a football fan who supports Burnley FC.