Yeah.....nah.
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020...-anderson-best-test-fast-bowling-duo/12499442
Cricket is famous for its batting partnerships.
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes come to mind, as do Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden.
But you know what they say: it's the bowlers that win you the game.
In the history of men's Test cricket, no fast-bowling combination has come anywhere near the partnership of two unassuming chaps from England, James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
Broad took his 500th Test wicket in Manchester overnight, as England defeated West Indies to win the series 2-1.
He got his 501st for good measure and was named Player of the Match for picking up 10 wickets and also Player of the Series. He's become just the fourth fast bowler to pass 500 Test wickets.
If cricket is famous for its partnerships, it's also famous for its statistics, so here goes:
Anderson and Broad have played 117 Tests together over 13 years beginning in 2008. In those matches, Anderson has taken 473 wickets to Broad's 422, a total of 895 wickets in matches together.
The closest fast-bowling combination in terms of Test dismissals is the two West Indian giants, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, who played 95 Tests together, taking 389 and 373 wickets respectively in those matches.
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Pakistan's finest, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, played together for 14 years and yet managed just 61 Tests together, taking 282 and 277 wickets apiece.
Is there an asterisk here?
Yes, it's Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, the greatest bowling combination of all time. In 104 matches together, they took an insane 1,014 wickets between them.
But Warne was a spinner — albeit the greatest of all time — and yes, his shoulders and fingers took a beating, but not like those of a fast bowler.
Longevity and health are an inevitable product of being at the top of any cricket list and here Anderson and Broad excel.
Anderson (right) first crossed swords with Justin Langer when the Australia coach was still playing.(Reuters: David Gray)
Anderson is the most successful fast bowler of all time with 589 wickets, behind the three great spinners Muttiah Muralitharan, Warne and Anil Kumble.
Broad is in seventh spot overall with 501.
Just McGrath and Walsh sit between him and Anderson, with every sign suggesting he could catch and pass them to join his English teammate as the two greatest fast-bowling wicket-takers.
After all, they want to keep playing at least until the 2021/22 Ashes series in Australia, by which time Anderson will be 39 and Broad 35.
Langer, who now coaches Australia, said that if that does happen "we will certainly be on our guard".
"We were fortunate, and I say this with great respect, that James Anderson didn't play the last Test series [a 2-2 draw in 2019] against us in England," he said.
Anderson bowled just four overs in the first Test before injuring his calf, which forced him to miss the rest of the Ashes and possibly cost England the series.
Anderson, Broad 'know how to get wickets'
Individually, they're elite; together, they're the greatest fast-bowling partnership of all time.
"We love bowling together in Test matches as well, we have a really good understanding and we bowl well when the other guy bowling is at the other end, we seem to know what each other is trying to do," said Anderson after Broad took six wickets in the first innings.
No-one knows that better than Australia opening batsman David Warner, who has faced them at their best.
"In English conditions, they just know how to get wickets," Warner said.
"In a partnership when they bowl, they don't leak runs. And they bowl a length in England, where if you go to drive that length you're probably going to nick.
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Retired England captain Andrew Strauss said he did not believe Broad had "bowled much better than this".
And of the partnership with Anderson, Strauss said: "We write them off at our peril.
"So, let's not be in a hurry to pension them off, because they have both got a lot more to offer England."
If there is a criticism of the two, it's that they're brilliant in English conditions but less so in Australia.
They've played 12 Tests together in Australia, with Anderson taking 39 wickets at an average of 34 and Broad 34 at an average of 37.
Those figures aren't terrible, but by no means are they terrifying.
But Langer is having none of it.
"I wouldn't say they're less of a threat," Langer said.
"They're both great bowlers for a reason, the great bowlers get wickets all around the world."
