England's James Anderson who has taken 557 wickets so far and needs 7 more wickets to go past the tally of legendary Australian bowler Glenn McGrath's 563 Test wickets (the most Test wickets by a fast bowler) and he has a great chance to break McGrath's record in the remaining two Tests against India.
James Anderson had only 46 wickets when Glenn McGrath retired from Test cricket in January 2007 and at that time, no one would have thought that Jimmy would be even close to breaking McGrath's record. Anderson only got better with age and has been one of the best bowlers in the world for more than a decade.
Here is a statistical comparison between these two legendary bowlers.
James Anderson vs Glenn McGrath - A Statistical Comparison :
1. Bowling career summary -
| Player | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | BBM | 5w | 10w |
| James Anderson | 141 | 263 | 557 | 26.85 | 55.7 | 7/42 | 11/71 | 26 | 3 |
| Glenn McGrath | 124 | 243 | 563 | 21.64 | 51.9 | 8/24 | 10/27 | 29 | 3 |
- James Anderson has 6 fewer wickets than Glenn McGrath despite playing 17 more Tests or 20 innings.
- James Anderson had 508 wickets after 243 Test innings.
2. At home -
| Player | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | BBM | 5w | 10w |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 81 | 155 | 361 | 23.72 | 49.4 | 7/42 | 11/71 | 21 | 3 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS) | 66 | 131 | 289 | 22.43 | 54.7 | 8/24 | 10/27 | 11 | 2 |
- James Anderson has taken 64.81% of his total Test wickets at home (England) while Glenn McGrath took 51.33% wickets at home (Australia).
3. Away from home -
| Player | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | BBM | 5w | 10w |
| James Anderson | 60 | 108 | 196 | 32.62 | 67.3 | 6/42 | 8/161 | 5 | 0 |
| Glenn McGrath | 58 | 112 | 274 | 20.81 | 48.9 | 8/38 | 10/78 | 18 | 1 |
- Outside home both Glenn McGrath and James Anderson played an almost same number of Test matches but statistically, Glenn McGrath is miles ahead of James Anderson.
- Glenn McGrath's away Test bowling average of 20.81 is the second best away Test bowling average among the fast bowlers after Sir Curtly Ambrose's 20.78 (Min 150 Test wickets away from home)
- Only Kapil Dev (32.85), Chaminda Vaas (32.92) and Ishant Sharma (35.96) have a worst away Test bowling average than James Anderson's 32.62 (Min 150 wickets away from home).
4. In England -
| Player | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | BBM | 5w | 10w |
| James Anderson | 81 | 155 | 361 | 23.72 | 49.4 | 7/42 | 11/71 | 21 | 3 |
| Glenn McGrath | 14 | 28 | 87 | 19.34 | 39.8 | 8/38 | 9/82 | 8 | 0 |
- James Anderson has taken most Test wickets (361) in England.
- Glenn McGrath's Test bowling strike rate of 39.8 in England is the best by any visiting bowler.
5. In Australia -
| Player | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | BBM | 5w | 10w |
| James Anderson | 18 | 34 | 60 | 35.43 | 72.0 | 5/43 | 7/127 | 1 | 0 |
| Glenn McGrath | 66 | 131 | 289 | 22.43 | 54.7 | 8/24 | 10/27 | 11 | 2 |
- James Anderson's 60 wickets in Australia are the 5th most for England.
- Glenn McGrath's 289 wickets in Australia are the most by any fast bowler and overall second most after Shane Warne's 319 in Australia.
6. In Asia -
| Player | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | BBM | 5w | 10w |
| James Anderson | 20 | 37 | 59 | 30.00 | 67.2 | 5/72 | 6/69 | 1 | 0 |
| Glenn McGrath | 19 | 36 | 72 | 23.02 | 54.8 | 5/66 | 7/59 | 1 | 0 |
- Glenn McGrath's 72 wickets in Asia are the third most wickets by a non Asian fast bowler in Asia after Dale Steyn's 92 and Courtney Walsh's 77 and James Anderson's 59 wickets are the 7th most.
