England’s
James Anderson became just the fourth bowler and the first pacer to reach the
600 Test wicket mark when he dismissed Pakistan captain Azhar Ali in the third
Test at Southampton on Tuesday.

The only
bowlers with more Test wickets than the 38-year-old Anderson are a trio of
retired spinners — Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800 Test wickets),
Australia’s Shane Warne (708) and India’s Anil Kumble (619).

Anderson,
appearing in his 156th Test — a testament to his stamina — took 5-56 in
Pakistan’s first innings and then, with the tourists’ following on, had Abid
Ali LBW on Monday’s rain-marred fourth day to move to 599 Test wickets.

Root held a
good head-high catch at first slip as Anderson, defying a docile pitch,
produced a rising ball that cut away from Azhar, on 31, to leave Pakistan 109-3
in their second innings, still 201 runs adrift of England’s declared total of 583-8
in the first innings.  

Kumble took
to Twitter to congratulate the pacer on his incredible achievement, saying, “Congratulations
@jimmy9 on your 600 wickets! Massive effort from a great fast bowler. Welcome
to the club.”

Australian
bowling legend Glenn McGarth, whose total of 563 wickets was surpassed by
Anderson in 2018, told BBC, “Absolutely incredible, I’m a big fan of Jimmy’s.
Just the fact he’s still playing now, in his 156th Test match, which in itself
is just incredible.”

“The
rigours, the stresses that fast bowlers put on their body day in day out, to
turn around and front up and just work your backside off is just absolutely
incredible.”

With the match
ending in a draw shortly after, having lost hours to rain on the final day as well,
England clinched their first Test series against Pakistan in a decade.

The “Burnley
Lara”, as Anderson is affectionately called by his fans, was left one wicket short
of the landmark on Monday due to a combination of poor catching, bad weather
and resilient batting.

Anderson
could have achieved the milestone late on Sunday although a flurry of dropped
catches left him frustrated. One of those catches were dropped by his long-time
pace partner Stuart Broad, who also paid tribute to his partner-in-crime on
Tuesday.

“You can’t
really put it into words, it’s just phenomenal. It doesn’t feel two minutes ago
he broke Glenn McGrath’s record at The Oval against India with such scenes of
taking the final wicket to win the Test match.”

“He has got
better with age and is someone who has inspired me throughout my career,
watching him. The last five years in particular, since leaving South Africa in
2016, he’s just gone from strength to strength and he’s a role model to follow
for every English cricketer and young cricketer coming through.”