On February 9, 2020, at The Wanderers, England beat South Africa by two wickets with 40 balls to spare. During the innings break, Nick Knight raised another matter of importance in the Sky Sports studio. He asked Alastair Cook how England should utilise the services of their leading wicket-taker in Test Cricket. “The only thing different for Stuart [Broad] and Jimmy [Anderson] is that there will be games when you’re told that you’re not going to play,” said Cook.
James Anderson, who would turn 38 later that year, was present there. He responded: “Personally, it’s something that I don’t think we have done very well. I was rested for a series when Cooky was captain. Then the next series came around which I was picked in the squad for. And then they said that Tim Bresnan came in for you and did really well, so we can’t drop him. Which obviously infuriated me!”
Post-lockdown international cricket resumed with the England-West Indies Test series. Thirty-four-year-old Broad, not included in the England XI for the first Test, shared his thoughts on air five months after Cook’s statement: “I’m not a particularly emotional person but I’ve found the last couple of days really tough … Sad, disappointment would be an understatement … you get disappointed if you drop your phone or break your screen. I’ve been frustrated, angry, gutted!”
But was this just two fast bowlers slowly marching towards the end of their Test career displaying frustration on air?
These were England’s top two wicket-takers in Test cricket history making it loud and clear that they didn’t wish to stop any time soon. That they weren’t supposed to.
A surfeit of fast bowlers
Anderson and Broad have played 302 Test matches between them for a shared total of 1,128 wickets. For most of their careers, they have enjoyed sharing the two bowling ends between them.
However, over the last couple of years, England Cricket has faced a problem of plenty, of having other fast-bowling options. They include Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, and Mark Wood. A bunch that has provided England with the option to play Anderson and Broad alternately even when Ben Stokes bowls only sporadically. England seemed to have found a good balance in managing them as it has had little effect on their contributions.
Since Archer’s debut in the 2019 Ashes, Broad has picked up most wickets for England (67 wickets in 16 Tests). With 36 wickets in 9 Tests, Anderson is only behind Broad and Archer. The vintage pacers also average better than the younger brigade.
Numbers before and after the age of 30
Crossing the age of 30, which invites injuries and questions, and cuts longer bowling spells for fast bowlers hasn’t had a big impact on these two exceptional talents. On the first look at numbers, Broad and Anderson have made it look ridiculously easy.
Jimmy Anderson has played the most number of Test matches (87) by any pacer after crossing the age of 30 and has complemented that with the most wickets (343) in that lot. Stuart Broad who is still 34 has done an incredible job to be tenth (172 wickets in 50 Tests) in that illustrious list. Some of the all-time greats of the game are sandwiched between the two England internationals.
Even when we follow the performance of these two over the years, there hasn’t been a big disparity in terms of wickets per innings. In fact, over the past four years, their numbers have been similar to what used to be over the first five years of their careers. Which is why using the phrase “ageing like a fine wine” has not been a cliché for these two.
Bowling in the subcontinent is often considered the toughest challenge for an English fast bowler. While Broad has not lived up to that challenge over years, Anderson has looked as good as he did in his 20s. A recent demonstration of which was on display on the final day of the Chennai Test when he shattered Indian hopes in his first over.
But then, Anderson and Broad are in different halves of their thirties. While Anderson’s bowling average has taken a minor hit (17.75 in 2017, 20.47 in 2020), Broad has gotten better in that respect (36.06 and 14.76).
Both have found their way to be among leading wicket-takers among fast bowlers over the past four years. They are only behind Kagiso Rabada, now 25, and Pat Cummins, 27. One can see why the England coach recently referred to not considering his two most experienced players as outright ‘stupid’.
A lot has happened since Anderson had expressed his concerns about England alternating between him and Broad in Test matches. The world and cricket experienced a lockdown like no other. Then the sport resumed in some capacity, as did our lives. England have played a total of nine Test matches. They lost the first of them, at home.
At that point, most cricket pundits had commented on whether Broad and Anderson should play together. However, England have stuck to their plan, and the two men have done the thing they do best, take wickets. With Archer set to miss the second Test, cricket fans may have the fortune to witness something they had so often in the past but not often these days.
Stuart Broad and James Anderson playing a Test match together.