Top 5 most deliveries bowled in Tests ft. James Anderson

James Anderson has been the talk of the town this week. He is all set to bid adieu to the game in July 2024, 21 years after making his England debut in 2003, with 188 Test caps, only behind Sachin Tendulkar's record of 200 Test matches.

As far as pacers are concerned, Anderson is head and shoulders clear of the next best - Stuart Broad retired after playing 167 matches while former West Indies pacer Courtney Walsh played 132 Tests.

Interestingly, two of the biggest names in England cricket, Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook made their debut after Anderson and even ended their career before the Lancashire pacer. It is indeed a remarkable journey, one that will always be remembered for sheer longevity.

Here we take a look at the top five most deliveries bowled by a bowler in Tests:

#5 Stuart Broad - England

A glorious career came to a fitting end

A match-winning Test bowler in his own right, Stuart Broad formed one of the most potent new-ball partnerships with James Anderson. His aggression and the ability to extract bounce and assistance from pitches made him a prolific performer for England in Test cricket.

Even as James Anderson flew high with new records, Broad was right behind him, becoming only the second bowler from England to pick up 400 Test wickets. He said goodbye to the sport with the 2023 Ashes series against Australia and picked up a wicket with the final ball of his career. Broad bowled 33,698 deliveries across 167 Test matches and ended with 604 wickets.

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#4 James Anderson - England

A career that continued to improve

Soon to turn 42, James Anderson has been on the cricket field for almost half his life. He is on an elite list - in more ways than one. Anderson, alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is one of the few players to play Test cricket in every calendar year of their careers.

Anderson will also walk away from the game as one of the three bowlers in the prestigious 700-wicket club in Test cricket. Also, he is one of the three pacers to take more than 500 Test wickets. In 2015, Anderson became the most successful England bowler and then raced on to become the first England player to reach the 400, 500, 600, and 700-wicket milestones.

When he bids goodbye from the game, Anderson will have bowled more than the 40,001 deliveries that he had sent in until the second day of the ongoing Test against the West Indies. He will finish as the bowler to have dished out the fourth most deliveries in the longest format of the game.

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#3 Shane Warne

Style, Substance and Spin Maestro

One of the greatest to have ever, Shane Warne redefined leg-spin and made it an art. With a short trundle, Warne fizzed out deliveries and ended his career with 708 wickets. With a life full of controversies and plenty of achievements and highlights, Warne was perhaps the most loved cricketer to grace the field.

Warne’s story is a perfect blend of stories, hospital visits, and adult-only romp. He flicked a Test hat-trick, won the Player-of-the-Match award in a World Cup final, and was the main subject of seven books.

His career spanned 145 matches and he bowled more than 6784 overs - 40705 balls - and ended with 708 wickets with an average of 25.41. He has 37 five-wicket hauls as well as 10 ten-wicket hauls in this legendary career and very few will be able to match the aura of this leg-spinning maestro.

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#2 Anil Kumble

Arguably, India's biggest match-winner

If Shane Warne was all about flair and owning a stage, Anil Kumble was all about grit, attitude, and persistence. His leg-spinners were not as vicious as Warne’s, but his accuracy flummoxed batters and his warrior-like spirit won several games for India.

His ball fizzed through the air, there was minimum flight, but the ball kicked off the pitch and targeted the stumps. He was very successful on Indian pitches where the dry pitches aided his deliveries. In January 2008, he breezed past the 600-wicket barrier.

Kumble gave it all for the side - he could hold one end when the pitch was not his ally but could spurt to life within a matter of one over. His career spanned 18 years and 132 matches, which came to an end with the 2008 series against Australia as the captain of India. He picked up 619 wickets and is still India’s leading wicket-taker. He delivered 40,850 deliveries across his Test career.

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#1 Muthiah Muralitharan

An absolute wizard with the ball

One of the nicest, yet, perhaps the most polarising figures in cricket, Muttiah Muralitharan divided opinions like no one else. He could get the ball the turn on a glass surface, and yet, his action was always frowned upon.

However, he was cleared by the ICC and went on to become the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket and ended his career with a perfect round figure of 800 Test wickets. On average, he bowled around 55 overs per Test and remains the bowler to have delivered the most balls in this format.

The office twirled out 44,039 deliveries for Sri Lanka and picked up his wickets with an astounding average of 22.72. Fittingly, he signed off from Test cricket by picking up his 800th wicket - the perfect off-break that turned away to catch the edge of Pragyan Ojha.