Most successful bowlers for England across all 3 formats

A paradise for pace bowlers to be brought up, England's pitches with their swing and seam movement – even lateral movement off the surface – offer the best of opportunities for pacers, as well as a challenge for the greatest of batsmen to hone their skills – no wonder that the County Championship witnesses numerous foreign participants every year, who flock the country hoping to return home as more improved cricketers.

And as a result, England have had a string of fast bowling greats, the most prominent ones being Sir Ian Botham, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Sportskeeda, however, traces their best bowlers from each of the three formats.

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Test cricket – James Anderson (2003 - present)

523 wickets at 27.41, Best: 7/42

5W - 25, 10WM - 3, Economy - 2.90

Not for any reason has one of the ends at the Old Trafford ground in Manchester been named after local boy James Anderson; not for any reason does he sit at the top of the charts among England's leading wicket-takers in Test cricket.

The strongly built Anderson has been devastating while moving the new ball around and been equally difficult to handle while reversing the old one. Despite suffering recurring injuries which have relatively slowed him down since 2015, the 35-year-old continues to lead with elan, maintaining exceptional consistency in teasing the batsmen in the corridor of uncertainty.

As many as 134 matches and 523 scalps in them bear testimony to the faith and confidence that the England team management has shown in him over the last many seasons. Anderson's real rise began only from the 2008 home summer onwards, and his position as the premier English bowler remains unmoved in spite of age catching up fast.

Recently, Anderson also added to his kitty what was missing all these years: a five-for in a Test in Australia; that said, he has little else to achieve in the days to come.

ODI cricket – James Anderson (2002 - present)

James Anderson last played an ODI in 2015 and is highly unlikely to play any more

269 wickets at 29.22, Best: 5/23

5W - 2, Economy - 4.92

Even in ODI cricket, Anderson is fairly ahead of the next best on the list - Darren Gough follows him with 234 wickets - and will remain so for the next few years despite having last played an ODI in England's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2015.

In a quest of fresher legs to adapt to the modern slambang game, Anderson, alongside numerous other names, were dumped from the ODI set-up. But the Lancastrian's contribution remains unmatched so far. He was effective in the powerplays as well as being threatening at the death with accurate punches at the opposition.

Both his ODI five-fors have come away from home, with one each on the tour of South Africa and New Zealand in 2009 and 2013, respectively. His captains trusted him all through innings: when the batsmen wanted to go big, when the game was required to be brought to life or when choking the rivals was the need in the slog overs.

Though almost certainly he would never play an ODI again, Anderson averages below 30 and has an economy under 5, both statistics not easy to possess in the modern age of cricket.

T20 Internationals – Stuart Broad (2006 - present)

Stuart Broad led England in consecutive T20 World Cups in 2012 and 2014

65 wickets at 22.94, Best: 4/24

4W - 1, Economy - 7.62

Once upon a time the captain of England's T20 side - he even led them in consecutive T20 World Cups in 2012 and 2014 - Stuart Broad now remains confined to the longest format, much like his new ball partner in the whites, James Anderson.

Though he briefly got an ODI lifeline in early 2016, the lanky pacer now only belongs to the Test side. But that is not to say that Broad was not useful in T20 cricket. Very few remember him beyond those six sixes which Yuvraj Singh bashed him for in a single over in the 2007 World T20, but he was extremely impressive when it came to foxing batsmen with the slower balls and the bouncer.

His best of 4/24 came against New Zealand at Auckland in 2013, but saw rewarding spells of 3/32, 3/30 and 3/24 result in a loss for England, with the last one coming against the Netherlands in the 2014 World T20, which eventually proved to be Broad's last match in the format.