Australian cricket legend Shane Warne‘s wickets tally is safe from being overtaken by an Englishman.
Warne is widely considered the best bowler in the game’s history, although his 708 Test wickets does trail the 800 taken by Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralidaran.
The legendary Aussie leg-spinner’s personal record was being chased down by England quick James Anderson, but the fast bowling great will fall just shy of his former Ashes nemesis.
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Anderson, 41, is playing his final Test match against the West Indies currently.
He took only one wicket in the first innings as debutant teammate Gus Atkinson stole the show with a seven-wicket haul.
England’s James Anderson celebrates bowling out West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite. AP
In the second innings Anderson has taken two wickets to take his Test tally to 703. But with only four more wickets available to England’s bowlers, it is now impossible for Anderson to reach Warne’s 708 before he retires.
Fellow England fast bowling great Stuart Broad retired last year with 604 Test wickets.
The only current player potentially in reach of Warne’s tally is Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who sits on 530 from his 129 matches.
Anderson dismissed West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite for the very last time as England took total control of the first Test at Lord’s, though the visitors managed to avoid a two-day defeat.
West Indies were 6-79 in their second innings at stumps, still trailing England by 171 runs.
Aussie legend Shane Warne. Getty
Anderson, playing his 188th and last Test, struck early in West Indies’ second innings, bowling Brathwaite to leave the visitors on 1-12 with a classic bail trimmer between bat and pad to delight a crowd that had come to say goodbye.
The bails hopped from their perch and Anderson pressed his finger in the air as the stands rose in acclaim.
The first seamer in history to 700 Test wickets, Anderson took 2-11 in 10 overs, including five maidens, and moved on to a career total of 703.
He returned figures of 1-26 in West Indies’ first innings of 121.
– with AP