England’s opening bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have both played their last Ashes series in Australia. As they depart after another disastrous tour down under for the Englishmen they are being hailed as England’s greatest ever bowling partnership. They have certainly been great assets to the game and wonderful servants to English cricket, but are some of the comments a little over the top in their praise?
As everyone knows statistics can be made to show what you want them to show.
First of all what is greatness? What does it take to be regarded as ‘great?’ Who defines if our achievements are indeed ‘great?’
Some people claim that once a large proportion of the world know your name, that is a sign of greatness. Then, and especially in the sporting world, just as we are about to do here, we have a habit of comparing athletes in order to ascertain whether or not they are indeed ‘great.’ Comparisons are made, and dare we say it, are sometimes affected by the athlete’s personalities, who they played for, the length of time they played as well as the colour of their skin can play a part in how they are ultimately judged. Should they be judged on performances alone? Or does greatness go beyond performance?
Some top athletes look at very accomplished players who were clearly outstanding players in the same era as themselves, but will be quick to tell you that the player in question does not deserve to be classed as ‘great’ because they never won anything. So does winning play a part in how good a player is?
When judging individuals it is always subjective and each individual’s opinion is always going to differ from the next persons, that is what makes life and sport so interesting. We do not have to agree, there is nothing wrong with seeing things differently.
James Anderson has played more Test matches than not only any other fast bowler, but more than any other England player. His longevity is remarkable. It is a clear credit to the way that he has looked after his body over the years. What is also remarkable is the fact that he continues to have a passion for the game and a desire to play at the highest level.
On the flipside from an England perspective one has to question the development within the game that he has rarely been put under pressure for his spot in England’s Test team. Often the young contenders have broken down due to injury. This is an extremely pertinent point, as James Anderson was born in 1982, which means that he was 18 years old at the turn of the century. In that year he made his debut for Lancashire in a Nat West Trophy match. His first County Championship game came two years later.
The ECB, which now runs Cricket came into being in 1997. Over the next several years they started to instigate changes to the game at all levels in England and Wales. One of those changes was to restrict the number of overs that up-and-coming fast bowlers were allowed to bowl in a week, or in a match. There are many who understood the reasoning behind such a move, but questioned it. Fast bowling is tough. It is a strain on the body, but if you do not get the overs under your belt as a youngster and build up strength, stamina, and learn the art, when are you going to? Is it any wonder that so many of England’s fast bowlers are breaking down once they step up to County or Test Cricket and have to bowl more overs? The key is good coaching when they are young, to ensure that their action is less likely to cause them injury or aggravation, but learning the art takes time and plenty of overs being bowled. Anderson would have done exactly that coming through as a youngster. Could this be the reason for his nagging accuracy and ability to stop the flow of runs?
Stuart Broad is four years younger than Anderson. However he too would have come through the same era, an era before restrictions. They would have been coming in just as he made his debut for Leicestershire 2nd XI as a 17 year old. He made his County debut the next year.
James Anderson has now played 169 Test Matches, bowled over 6000 overs and taken 640 wickets at an average of 26.58. Stuart Broad has played 152 Test matches and bowled over 5000 overs and taken 537 wickets at 27.80.
These are phenomenal figures. However in cricket it comes down to statistics, and these figures, when a Bowling average is used as a measuring stick see Anderson sitting 33rd and Broad 40th on England’s all-time best bowling average chart. Ahead of them are some big names from English cricket, SF “Sydney” Barnes, regarded as one of the game’s all time great bowlers, Frank Tyson, Fred Trueman, Bill Bowes, Brian Statham, Sir Alec Bedser and Bob Willis. Then there are the spinners such as Jim Laker, Hedley Verity, Tony Lock, Derek Underwood and Colin Blythe.
There are some big names there, so how do Anderson and Broad compare? Sadly many covering cricket today have no feel for its past history, all they are interested in is clickbait, a headline that grabs attention. So to make the current players out as being the best ever is going to help their cause, but does it tell the real story?
Some would argue that Anderson would squeeze into that illustrious group on the strength of the volume of wickets taken, Broad may be left in the top 20. It will come down to each individuals opinion.
If you look at the economy rate of all of the fast bowlers mentioned only Bob Willis has a higher economy rate than Anderson, but it is still lower than Broad. Every other bowler was far more economical.
Bowling is about taking wickets, so the key here is the average number of wickets taken per Innings. Barnes averages 3.7 wickets per innings the best of the lot. Tyson, 2.6, Bedser 2.5, Trueman 2.4, and Bowes 2.3 wickets per innings. Anderson currently averages 2 wickets per innings and Broad along with Willis, and Statham 1.9.
Looking at those statistics it is very important to remember that successful teams have bowlers that hunt in pairs. Statham worked in tandem with Trueman as Broad has with Anderson, so is it a coincidence that they should average the same number of wickets per innings? Willis it could be argued worked in tandem for a while with Botham. Although Ian Botham tended to take a lot of wickets when the late Mike Hendrick was bowling at the other end, as he had the ability to keep the ball on the spot and tie up one end.
Anderson and Broad have played 123 Test matches together for a total of 920 wickets. The best partnership between two bowlers in Test Cricket is between Australians Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath who played 104 Tests together for 1,011 wickets. Next come a fast bowling pair that Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis were reported as both claiming was the best they faced, Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who in 61 Tests in tandem snared 550 wickets. Other fast bowling partnerships that were successful were the West Indies Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith 23 Tests for 158 wickets and Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh 95 Tests together for 775 wickets. Australia’s Lillee and Thomson managed 217 wickets in 26 Tests and Lindwall and Miller 340 in 40 Tests.
For England after Anderson and Broad come Statham and Trueman with 284 wickets in 35 Tests. Spinners Laker and Lock took 208 wickets in 24 tests together, and Harold Larwood and Bill Voce took 41 together in just 4 Tests!
If you look at all those partnerships which are famed in World Cricket, only one has a lower wickets per match return than Broad and Anderson’s of 7.4 wickets per match, and that was Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith who averaged 6.8 wickets per match. Larwood and Voce averaged 10.25 while Trueman and Statham averaged 8.1 to Laker and Lock’s 8.6.
Don’t forget that this focus is primarily on fast bowling partnerships. In the current game Indian spinners Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin of India as a partnership are averaging 10.2 wickets per match.
Anderson has taken the most wickets ever by a fast bowler, Stuart Broad is currently sixth. One cannot discount the longevity of their careers and the amount of Test cricket played today compared to yesteryear. It is worth remembering that when he retired Fred Trueman was the leading wicket taker in Test Cricket. His record was then surpassed by Dennis Lillee, and in time by New Zealand’s Sir Richard Hadlee and India’s Kapil Dev. Only Kapil Dev remains in the top ten Test match wicket takers today, sitting at number nine.
If a player’s greatness is to be judged on how many times they win, Anderson and Broad in Test matches that they have played in together have won 53, lost 39 and drawn 31 in 123 Test Matches. By comparison Trueman and Statham played 35, won 13 lost 8 and drew 14. Larwood and Voce won three and lost one of their four test matches as a pair. That gave them a win ratio of 75% as a bowling partnership. Anderson and Broad have a win percentage of 43% and Trueman and Statham one of 37%. For those who like to look at things from another perspective England would lose only 22% of the time Trueman and Statham were playing and 31% of the time Anderson and Broad were playing.
Trueman and Statham played their first International game together in 1954, and were picked for two Tests in the series in the West Indies, but only paired up on a regular basis in 1957. Between them they had 104 appearances for England. In that period England lost only two Test rubbers, one in Australia and one against Australia in England.
Anderson and Broad have played together in 48 international series. Sometimes they have played in a series but not played together; the figures above were based only on when both played in the same match. Of the 48 Series in which both have played a part they have won 26, drawn seven and lost 15.
Larwood and Voce famously won the only series in which they were paired.
That was an Ashes series, and by comparison Trueman and Statham played in three Ashes series together, in 1959 they lost 4-0 in Australia, in 1961 in England they lost 1-2 and in 1962 in Australia drew the series with one win each.
Anderson and Broad have played in eight Ashes series together, although in a few series they have not played every game together. In those eight series England has won the Ashes four times, lost them three times and drawn the series once; which meant the urn stayed with Australia.
When comparing players some will choose to look at their individual performances in all countries. So we will look at that.
Harold Larwood played 21 tests, he had four five wicket hauls and one 10 wicket haul in those matches. He took 78 wickets at an average of 28.35. He only toured Australia where he took 51 wickets at 26.81. In England in 11 Test matches he took 27 wickets at 31.25.
Bill Voce played 27 Test matches and took 98 wickets at 27.88. he had three five wicket hauls and twice took ten wickets in a match. All of these feats coming overseas in Australia, South Africa and the West Indies. Like Larwood he had more success in Australia than at home, 41 wickets at 27.51 as opposed to 12 in five matches at 33.16 in England.
Trueman took 307 Test wickets at 21.57 and in his career had 17 five wicket hauls and three times took ten wickets in a match. He took 229 of his wickets in England at 20.04. He was clearly more effective in England, but managed a five wicket haul in each country he played overseas, Australia, the West Indies and New Zealand.
Brian Statham took 252 test wickets at 24.84 and he recorded five wickets in an innings nine times and ten wickets in a match once. Statham toured five Test playing countries and only managed two five wicket hauls away from home, both of those coming in Australia.
Stuart Broad has taken 537 Test wickets at 27.80 and has 19 five wicket hauls and three times has taken ten wickets in a match. All three of those have come in England, but he has recorded five wicket hauls in Australia (2), New Zealand (2) and South Africa and the West Indies once. His best bowling average in one country comes in the UAE where England has played Pakistan, but after that South Africa is where he has taken 45 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 23.95. Not surprisingly in England he has taken 341 wickets at 25.78.
Jimmy Anderson has 640 Test wickets ar and average of 26.58. He has taken five wickets in an innings an incredible 31 times and three times taken 10 wickets in the match. England is far and away his happy hunting ground with 402 wickets at 24.20. Australia and South Africa have been his less happy places with 68 wickets in Australia at 34.01 and in South Africa 34 at 34. 61. Anderson has taken seven five wicket hauls outside of England; twice in South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies and once in Australia and New Zealand.
It is unlikely that any of these players have lived their lives comparing their performances to others. All of them one feels have simply tried to be the best they can be at what they do. They have all striven to give their all when representing England so is it fair to try and judge who is the greatest?
There are so many variables. In cricket in the past 90 years there have been changes to the wickets, the bats, the protective equipment, and the boundary. Then should consideration be given as to whether the players are performing in a winning side or a losing side. It is far easier to be successful in a winning side, when catches stick and you are surrounded by confident players on top of their game.
All of the players mentioned have been extremely accomplished players, all have formed bowling combinations that will live long in the history of cricket. One thing that is interesting though is to look at how often Stuart Broad was not handed the new ball with Anderson. Frequently he shared it with the likes of Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff, Chris Tremlett, Graham Onions, Steve Finn, or Mark Wood to name a handful.
None of these players achievements should be judged or defined by the others. If you are going to try and make such a judgement as has tried to be illustrated here on what do you judge them? All have grounds to the claim of being England’s greatest fast bowling partnership.
It is worth remembering that true greatness never has to be explained. It is plain and clear for all to see. It shines through in the individual’s performances and their actions. Some would even go so far as to say also the way in which their performances impact and influence the lives of others.
While recognising all that is good about those we wish to elevate to greatness it is also pertinent to remember that the true ‘greats’ tend not to make excuses and nor do they shy away from failure. That is often the real reason why they become ‘great.’
William Shakespeare summed it up best when he wrote “some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.”
