As he is approaching the record of most Test appearances by an England cricketer, veteran pacer James Anderson finds it "mind-blowing" and feels proud of his achievement.  

With 161 Tests to his name, ex-skipper Sir Alastair Cook holds the record of most appearances and if Anderson is picked for next week's series opener against New Zealand at Lord's, he will draw level with his former captain.

But unlike Cook, who was an opening batsman, Anderson has had the far more physically challenging task of leading the fast bowling attack.

Anderson has featured in 160 Tests so far and if he gets to play all seven Tests against New Zealand and India this summer, he will be behind just a trio of Sachin Tendulkar (200 Tests) Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh (both 168 Tests) in the all-time list.

"It does make me feel proud," Anderson told reporters. "I never imagined in a million years I'd get to this point.

"Certainly for a bowler to play this amount of games is... I don't know what the word is... but it's a bit mind-blowing to me because I don't feel like I've played that many games."

"My body doesn't feel old or tired. I absolutely love Test cricket, I've got a huge passion for it. Growing up, that's all I wanted to do is play Test cricket for England and I'm honoured I've been able to do it for this long."

Anderson, who holds the record of most wickets by a pacer in Test cricket with 614 scalps, is also just eight away from claiming 1,000 first-class wickets.

"In this day and age I don't know if it's possible to get that many first-class wickets anymore, the amount of cricket that's played, there doesn't seem to be that longevity in bowlers anymore, and there's loads of T20 cricket and whatever else is going on around the world," he said.

But the 38-year-old said there was more behind his ongoing career than statistical milestones.

"Putting the hard yards in, that's when it means the most, putting a shift in for the team," he said. "I get a lot of pleasure out of it. Bowling 10 overs on a green seamer doesn't really do it for me.

"I want to put a shift in for the team when it's tough."

(With AFP inputs)