James Anderson: England fast bowler reflects on career 20 years after Test debut

In a vocation laced with records, landmarks and achievements, James Anderson has deed different milestone.

When helium has recovered sufficiently from a groin wounded to triumph his adjacent and 180th cap, Anderson volition go the archetypal England subordinate since Brian Close successful 1976 to widen his Test vocation into a 3rd decade.

Anderson's travel from that Lord's bow against Zimbabwe successful May 2003 has seen him interaction heights nary different gait bowler successful the past of the crippled has been capable to scope - 685 wickets and counting.

He sits 3rd connected the all-time Test wicket-takers list, could beryllium 2nd earlier the summertime is retired and volition extremity his vocation knowing helium is improbable to beryllium passed.

Making his debut alongside Yorkshire all-rounder Anthony McGrath, who retired a decennary ago, a 20-year-old Anderson was little than a twelvemonth connected from being a regular successful the archetypal XI of Burnley Cricket Club.

Zimbabwe's Mark Vermeulen would go James Anderson's archetypal unfortunate successful Test cricket

It was backmost successful Burnley, astatine his aged superior schoolhouse of St Mary's, wherever Anderson reflected connected his aboriginal years and emergence to planetary cricket.

"My dada was 2nd squad skipper astatine Burnley. He was alright, an all-rounder," Anderson, present 40, tells BBC Sport.

"I'd ticker Botham's Ashes connected video, past erstwhile dada was playing I'd get connected to the tract astatine tea, trying to deed immoderate balls from mum.

"I was perpetually trying to bash impressions oregon emulate people. If it was football, it would person been 1 of the Burnley players, oregon I was a spot of an Arsenal fan, truthful it would person been Ian Wright.

"In cricket I'd person been trying to vessel similar Darren Gough against the store door."

Burnley Cricket Club, successful the shadiness of the shot club's Turf Moor home, is 1 of the astir palmy teams successful the notoriously pugnacious Lancashire League.

The young Anderson would instrumentality twelvemonth connected year, a small taller and a small quicker each time. He made his first-team debut arsenic a 15-year-old successful the aboriginal portion of the 1998 season.

"It was precise hard cricket," says Anderson. "In 1 of my archetypal games I bowled 5 wides successful the archetypal implicit and thought 'this is ne'er going to end'. I soon learned, astatine 15, that nerves are good. They brought the champion retired of me. That stood maine successful bully stead."

The Lancashire League is celebrated for its overseas professionals - Shane Warne astatine Accrington, Jason Gillespie astatine Rishton and Michael Clarke astatine Ramsbottom to sanction a fewer - and it was Anderson's big-name scalps that caught the eye.

In that debut season, Anderson had Roger Harper, the all-rounder who played for the large West Indies broadside of the 1980s and aboriginal 90s, caught down for a aureate duck.

The pursuing season, South Africa batter Martin van Jaarsveld was lone 3 years distant from playing Test cricket, but inactive bounced retired archetypal shot by the 17-year-old Anderson.

"That was erstwhile I archetypal started reasoning I could play astatine that level," says Anderson. "When I was getting prime players out, it made maine consciousness similar I could bash the job.

"I bounced Van Jaarsveld and helium got caught astatine mid-on. I would ne'er person thought to bounce idiosyncratic archetypal ball, but the skipper said 'he volition not beryllium expecting this' - you larn lessons each the mode through."

It was Val Brown, the parent of Burnley team-mate Michael, who recommended Anderson to Lancashire academy manager John Stanworth.

"Val Brown mostly utilized to enactment successful the inheritance truthful for her to bring Jimmy to my attraction was rather powerful," Stanworth told the BBC successful 2015.

Anderson's List A debut came successful 1999 against a Suffolk broadside containing Derek Randall, the batter who played for England successful the 1970s, but it took 3 years of Lancashire 2nd squad cricket earlier helium made a existent content - 8-54 against the Northants 2nd drawstring successful May 2002.

A week later, helium made his County Championship debut and, by the extremity of the year, was successful the England one-day squad.

"I retrieve that twelvemonth well," says Anderson, who started the summertime playing 10 Lancashire League games for Burnley.

"When I took 8 wickets, Neil Fairbrother was playing for the Lancashire 2nd squad and recommended I was enactment successful the archetypal team.

"I got sent to the England Academy successful Australia and, erstwhile each of the accelerated bowlers got injured, I was successful the close spot astatine the close time."

Whereas successful the June Anderson had been returning figures of 1-27 astatine Haslingden for Burnley, by December helium was opening the bowling successful a one-day planetary against Australia astatine the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

He did capable to gain a spot astatine the 2003 World Cup, wherever helium famously tore done the Pakistan apical bid successful Cape Town, and was a shoo-in for a Test debut the pursuing summer.

With frosted tips successful his hairsbreadth (not the worst hairstyle of his career), Anderson took the shot precocious connected the 2nd time and bowled Mark Vermeulen for his archetypal Test wicket, claiming 5-73 to acceptable England connected people for triumph by an innings.

"I can't judge I'm inactive doing what I'm doing. I consciousness fortunate and blessed to person had the vocation that I've had. I consciousness fortunate that I've not been blighted excessively overmuch with injuries," says Anderson.

James Anderson coaches pupils astatine his erstwhile superior school

The accidental to bespeak astatine St Mary's came arsenic portion of a Chance To Shine schools visits, wherever Anderson led a coaching league and took questions from children ("Do you similar karaoke? No. What would you bash if you won the lottery? Buy Burnley FC. What's the silliest happening you've done? Put a reddish stripe successful my hair).

Through partnerships with Chance to Shine and the Lord's Taverners, the England and Wales Cricket Board is investing much than £4m this twelvemonth to instrumentality cricket to astir 7,500 superior schools and 700,000 children.

For the archetypal time, a targeted programme volition scope 55,000 children from under-served communities, and those attending peculiar acquisition needs and disablement schools.

It is simply a pertinent taxable for Anderson, often a number successful an England squad arsenic a state-educated subordinate surrounded by those with private-school backgrounds.

"We astir apt played 2 oregon 3 cricket matches a twelvemonth successful school," helium says. "I was truly fortunate that my dada played nine cricket.

"Trying to springiness arsenic galore kids arsenic imaginable to play the crippled is truthful important. We shouldn't trust connected conscionable 1 way to play planetary cricket. We request galore routes to get there."

As for Burnley, Anderson played his last games for the nine successful 2006 arsenic a batter erstwhile helium was recovering from a backmost injury. He inactive has the league winners' medal from that play connected show successful his house.

There is simply a James Anderson Suite astatine the club, though the antheral himself is denied a escaped portion inside.

"No," helium says. "You don't get thing for escaped successful Burnley."