England record wicket taker Anderson set to be awarded knighthood

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) England's record wicket-taker in Test cricket, James Anderson has been given the knighthood in former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's resignation honours list and was the only sportsperson to be given the award. Anderson was previously awarded with an OBE medal by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace back in 2016.

Anderson retired from international cricket following England's emphatic innings and 114 runs win against West Indies in the first Test at Lord's in July, 2024 where he scalped four wickets across two innings. His decision to retire from international duty came after England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes decided they wanted to build an attack for the future.

The 41-year-old closed his red-ball career with 704 wickets for England. He retired from the format as the highest wicket-taker as a fast bowler and is the third-highest wicket-taker overall after Muttiah Muralidaran (800) of Sri Lanka and Australia's Shane Warne (708) in Test cricket.

Anderson made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in 2003 and earned 188 caps in the format, which is also an England record. He sits in second position on the all-time list of Test appearances behind only the legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, who played 200 Tests for India. He also played 194 ODIs, where he claimed 269 wickets which also sees him sit atop the list of most wickets for England in the 50-over format and 19 T20Is for England but became a Test-match specialist fast-bowler in 2015.

Despite calling curtains to his glorious international career, Anderson is currently signed to play for the Red Rose county this summer. Anderson made his Lancashire debut in white-ball cricket in 2000, before making his red-ball debut in 2002 and has taken 1,114 first-class wickets, 358 in List A cricket and 41 in T20s.

--IANS

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