History was created at Old Trafford earlier today as Stuart Broad pinned the West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite in front of the wickets on the 5th day of the third Test match between England and West Indies to get to the tally of 500 Test wickets.
Broad is only the second bowler from England and 7th overall to achieve this rare feat in the longest format of the game.
What’s historical about the Old Trafford Test match is that James Anderson is also playing for England in this game and he was the first ever English bowler to get to the tally of 500 Test wickets.
This is the first time ever in the history of the game that two bowlers with 500 Test wickets to their names are featuring in the same Test match.
Momentous occasion in Test history. First time ever that two fast bowlers with 500 wickets are playing in the same match. Anderson and Broad. #RoyalPair
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 28, 2020
It has never happened before because no other Test playing nation ever had two bowlers with 500 Test wickets. Apart from Anderson and Broad, five other bowlers who have reached the tally of 500 Test wickets are all from different countries.
Muttiah Muralitharan is currently the highest ever wicket-taker in Test match cricket followed by Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Anderson, Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh and Broad.
Out of all the bowlers who are in the 500-wicket club, only Anderson and Broad are active at the moment.
Anderson currently has 589 Test wickets in his kitty and during this English summer, he might become the first ever fast bowler in Test history to get to 600 Test wickets.
Muralitharan, Warne and Kumble are the only bowlers who have got to 600 Test wickets so far and they are all spinners.
After the Test series against West Indies, England has to play a 3-match Test series against Pakistan as well and it wouldn’t be too difficult for Anderson to grab 11 more wickets in 3 Test matches under favorable conditions.
