“Dale Steyn is one of the best but James Anderson is the best bowler of this era,” says the sultan of swing, Wasim Akram. He believes that wicket-taking ability on the consistent basis makes Anderson a great bowler of his time. Anderson has bowled brilliantly in the first two Tests of the Ashes 2013 series and is having a tally of 13 wickets.
Akram was quoted by Hindustan Times saying, "Jimmy Anderson is leading from the front. For me he is the best bowler of this era. He does it consistently, with the new ball and the old ball."
Anderson has picked up 320 Test wickets which takes him third-highest wicket taker after Ian Botham and Bob Willis. With the next Test to be played from Thursday at his home ground, Old Trafford, it would be interesting to see that how many Aussie batsmen he rattles with his out-swinging deliveries, as he has been the chief architect for framing a lead of 2-0 for England.
Although Anderson's career average of 29.66 is more expensive than Steyn's 22.65, Wasim was quoted by Deccan Herald saying, "I have seen Dale Steyn bowling with the old ball and he only bowls one delivery the in-swinger to the right-hander. 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."
Akram formed a legendary pair with his Waqar Younis and they almost destroyed every batting order with their brilliant reverse swing which was clubbed with rollicking toe-crushing yorkers. Left-hand fast bowler picked up 414 wickets in 104 Test that he played with a brilliant average of 23.62.
Akram finds that next 3-4 years are very important for Anderson. He appreciates the Englishmen for setting up batsmen beautifully and end up picking them on good balls. Pakistani speedster was quoted by Deccan Chronicle saying, "Jimmy is up there with me and Waqar because of the control he has. 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."
