Pakistan great Wasim Akram believes England's James Anderson is the best bowler in the world. Anderson has taken 13 wickets in the first two Ashes Tests to help England to a 2-0 lead over Australia, ahead of the third at Old Trafford on Thursday. The 31-year-old has 320 Test wickets, placing him third in England's all-time list behind Ian Botham and Bob Willis. "Jimmy Anderson is leading from the front. For me he is the best bowler of this era," Wasim told BBC Sport. "He does it consistently, with the new ball and the old ball." Left-arm quick Wasim and his Pakistan team-mate Waqar Younis tormented opposing batsmen in the late 1980s and 1990s with their expertise in reverse-swing bowling and Wasim recognises Anderson as a fellow master of the craft. "Jimmy is up there with me and Waqar because of the control he has," said Wasim, who played for Anderson's county side Lancashire between 1988 and 1998. "He was always good with the new ball, but with the old ball he is intelligent. He bowls five away-swingers, then one inswinger and takes a wicket. "Other England bowlers like Steven Finn and Stuart Broad try to alternate inswingers and outswingers, but if you do that your line or length won't be the same every ball you bowl." The International Cricket Council's Test bowler rankings have Anderson joint fifth, with South Africa's Dale Steyn at number one. Although Anderson's career average of 29.66 is significantly inferior to Steyn's 22.65, Wasim believes the Englishman has edged ahead in 2013, a year in which he has taken 32 wickets in seven Tests at 23.12. "I have seen Dale Steyn bowling with the old ball and he only bowls one delivery - the inswinger to the right-hander," added Wasim. "Steyn is one of the best in the world as well, but Jimmy is slightly ahead because he does a lot more with the old ball." Former England seamer Andy Caddick believes the world has still not seen the best of Anderson. Caddick, who played 62 Tests for England between 1993 and 2003, said: "He is in his prime now but he has got a few years left in him yet. "I think we will see a lot better bowling from Jimmy. "Now he is the finished article, he knows his game. When you start knowing your game as a bowler you are going to continue doing well." Anderson's next challenge is to help England clinch a victory at Old Trafford that would win them the Ashes with two matches to spare. It would be Australia's third successive Ashes series loss and former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff believes it could be some time before they regain the famous urn. "Australia seem very much a work in progress and they are a long way away from competing - we are probably talking years," Flintoff told BBC Sport. "We have seen from England that it can take a while and I think they are playing for pride more than anything at the minute. "England should dominate for a few years now." Chris Tremlett, the 6ft 7in Surrey fast bowler, has been called into England's squad for Old Trafford, which traditionally produces quick and bouncy wickets. But Flintoff believes England should keep faith with Tim Bresnan, who took four wickets and scored a second-innings 38 in the 347-run victory at Lord's. "Everyone goes on about Old Trafford bouncing and being quick but it does suit bowlers that attack the stumps," said Flintoff, who was part of the England side that regained the Ashes after an 18-year wait in 2005. "I would stick with Bresnan for this one because the pitch should be quite flat. "They have sold out five days of Test cricket so the club will want five days of Test cricket so they get rewarded financially. You have to work hard to win at Old Trafford." http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23512405 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I do not actually agree with Wasim. Jimmy is a good bowler, but great? I don't think so.
A classy bowler but best in the world? Nah. Where did Shoaib Akhtar, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram himself go behind this bowler. He still has a couple of years left in international cricket but I don't think he is the best bowler in the world. Just an opinion by Wasim.
Yeah Wasim does change his opinion quite a bit. I think he is looking at in terms of reversing the ball more than anything.
Wasim is in the UK right now..so the best bowler is anderson..come IPL time he's going ot go back to zaheer khan..
lol what bullcrap..he became effective after he learned the in cutter from Asif. google it you will find proof.
http://m.timesofindia.com/sports/cr...watching-Zaheer-Khan/articleshow/21521535.cms read this link news :waiting
:rofl:rofl where does it say that Andersen said that?..just because andersen was playing against india when zaheer took wickets doesnt mean that incident changed andersen's life. garbage! Its this tells u the quality of the article.
Anderson is very classy bowler who can swing both the old and new ball both ways,best at the moment maybe but when he was on display along side Amir and Asif.(sorry i've visited the past once again)................!?came a distant second in my honest opinion,because they were bowling against a formidable English line up helped by butterfingered fielders and he was bowling against possibly the poorest Pakistani batting line up helped by very good catchers!
Steyn is the World's best fast bowler. Anderson can't even dream of doing this on one of India's flattest tracks.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...5621098_1_sachin-tendulkar-seamer-zaheer-khan read this one its true he said it when eng toured of india
yaar all that article says is that he start practicing the art after he found out about reverse swing..where does it say he learned it from zaheer?
You have to give Anderson credit. Always been majorly overhyped but now he at least deserves some of the hype. In 2007 he averaged 40, economy 3.7 and only showed up about once a year and was crap the rest. Now he averages 30 economy 3.1 and dropping, also swings the ball both ways at a decent rate. But still overrated pour moi, a very good bowler but that's it
here he credit both Zaheer and Asif fir tips http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-245657906/learnt-few-tricks-zaheer.html
Akram needs to concentrate on his own country to be able to get to learn. His 2 week camp once a year won't do much as its required to be some more often as the bowling talents need to be able to good enough bench strengths to replace the likes of Junaid, Irfan and Gul when a rest or rehab is required. As for Anderson he's improved very much in the last couple of years and is a good bowler swinging it both ways at 85mph with a good action but hasn't been consistent overseas on SC pitches to be labelled the worlds best. In seaming conditions he's lethal and bowls at a good line n length but on a SC dead pitch he hasn't created waves.
Today's game explains in part why I don't rate Anderson that highly. He's very good but that's it. Not many bowlers would've been persisted with so long after averaging 40 in their first 6-7 years on the international circuit, and England had to cut short the careers of solid bowlers like Hoggard and Sidebottom to get Anderson this far. To Anderson's credit he's massively improved and justified their gamble, but he still has far too many bad days at the office to be rated as highly as he is. Very good bowler, potentially superb on a given day, but that's it.
Both made their debuts around the same time and started the best years of their careers from 2008. Let's take a statistical look against the top test playing nations since then. (I didn't include the 3rd Ashes Test for Anderson as that'd be unfair on Steyn) Anderson: Steyn: Both have also made the most of flourishing against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Whereas just look at Steyn's average and strike rate in India. Amazing!
Top 3 strike rates amongst fast bowlers with 300 or more wickets: 1. DALE STEYN. 41.8 2. Waqar Younis. 43.4 3. Malcom Marshall 46.7 The biggest difference about the two is Anderson is compared to the fast bowlwrs of the World whereas Steyn is amongst the legendary pace-men of the game.
