James Anderson      

A strapping, genuinely quick swing bowler, James Anderson had played only three one-day games for Lancashire in the 2002 season - he'd played more for his club Burnley - before being called into England's VB Series squad the following winter as cover for Andy Caddick, following an impressive stint at the Academy in Adelaide. An amazing 10-over stint in century heat at Adelaide, which cost just 12 runs, earned him a place in the 2003 World Cup, where he produced a matchwinning spell against Pakistan, before suffering a sobering last-over disaster against Australia. At this stage, however, his star was very much in the ascendancy, and when selected for the first Test of the new home season, he took five wickets in his ...

A strapping, genuinely quick swing bowler, James Anderson had played only three one-day games for Lancashire in the 2002 season - he'd played more for his club Burnley - before being called into England's VB Series squad the following winter as cover for Andy Caddick, following an impressive stint at the Academy in Adelaide. An amazing 10-over stint in century heat at Adelaide, which cost just 12 runs, earned him a place in the 2003 World Cup, where he produced a matchwinning spell against Pakistan, before suffering a sobering last-over disaster against Australia. At this stage, however, his star was very much in the ascendancy, and when selected for the first Test of the new home season, he took five wickets in his debut innings almost to order.

An ODI hat-trick - the first by an English bowler - followed against Pakistan at The Oval, but from that moment on, his fortunes began to wane. South Africa's Test team made his new go-faster hairstyle seem a little foolish, and though he retained his place for the winter tours to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2003-04 and South Africa the following year, he was reduced to the most peripheral of net-bowling roles - and a shadow of his former self on his rare appearances in the middle. He seemed well out of the frame until injuries led to his recall at Mumbai in 2005-06 where he played a key part in England's success. But no sooner had he returned home than he broke down with a stress fracture of the lower back, ruling him out of the 2006 season.

A see-saw winter followed in Australia - he was thrown back in at the deep end for the series opener at Brisbane and suffered acutely for his lack of match practice as England were thumped by 277 runs. By the one-day series, however, he had rediscovered some of his best form, only to be rested as a precaution ahead of the World Cup. Shortly before England's opening match he broke his finger and although he played through the pain he was never at his best. He wasn't alone in that, but not for the first time the way he had been managed was in question.

He and Stuart Broad spearheaded a young England attack in place of the out-of-form Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard for the second Test of England's series against New Zealand in the winter of 2008, and it appeared to inspire him. His 5 for 73 helped England square the series, and though his old waywardness returned with depressing inevitability in the final Test, he was back among the wickets three games later against the Kiwis at Trent Bridge, when his hostile full-pitched late swing accounted for each of the first six wickets to fall. In addition, his batting - for so long superfluous - started to come into its own, as a brave career-best 34 against a rampant South Africa at Headingley would later prove.

By the time he bowled England to victory with 9 for 125 against West Indies at Chester-le-Street in May 2009, he had completed 48 Test innings without ever being dismissed for a duck. Though that particular record ended on 53, his batting still went on to provide one of the defining moments of his career, a final-day stonewall in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff, when he and Monty Panesar kept Australia at bay for the final 40 minutes of a dramatic contest. It was an escape that gave England the momentum to claim the series 2-1.
Rob Smyth October 2009

May 31, 2002
A star in the making
• After impressing for club side Burnley, a 19-year-old James Anderson makes his first-class debut for Lancashire against Surrey at Old Trafford. Takes four wickets in the game including Mark Ramprakash for a first-ball duck in the second innings.
  
December 15, 2002
Flying start
• His promising first-class performances earn him a call-up from England's academy side to the one-day team in Australia. After an inauspicious debut he impresses with late-swing and composure. A remarkable spell of 1 for 12 in 10 overs at Adelaide isn't enough to bring England victory, but does secure him a place in the squad for the World Cup that followed.
  
February to March 2003
Hero to zero
• England looked like they had unearthed a gem when Anderson used the heady atmosphere of the Newlands evening to bowl England to victory over Pakistan. His man-of-the-match 4 for 29 included Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana in successive deliveries of darting away-swingers.
  
  Two games later he crashed down to earth as Australia came back from the dead at Port Elizabeth to dump England out the World Cup . With Australia needing 14 runs to win from the final two overs, Anderson's attempted slower-ball was carted for six and the next ball for four to make the finish a formality.
  
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May 2003
A lively return
• Despite his fatal final over he returns for his first home season of international cricket as England's latest saviour. His duly delivers 5 for 73 on his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's before taking six wickets in the second Test at Chester-le-street.
  
June 23, 2003
Hat-trick hero
• His bowling continues to fire as he records England's first ODI hat-trick against Pakistan at the Oval and persistently troubles the touring South Africans as England take the Natwest series.
  
July 2003
Hot-streak comes to an end
• Sporting a new red streak across his hair, finally his rocketing start began to wane as Graeme Smith's broad bat proved seemingly unbreachable. In a thrilling five-match series shared two Test's a piece, Anderson falls behind Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison's rising profiles. He finishes with 15 wickets in this series at 39.86.
  
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September 2003 to September 2005
Net bowler supreme
• Enters a long a frustrating period of his career where a combination of injury, management interference and even the odd Test match provoke much naval gazing and hand-wringing from England supporters.
  
  As Michael Vaughan developed and polished the fab-four as England mobilised for the Ashes charge, Anderson found himself on the periphery. A single Test in Colombo followed by a few Tests against the West Indies at home included only the occasional flash of his talent, such as his 4 for 52 at the Oval that included Brian Lara.
  
  In between he cut a disconsolate figure, bowing perfect overs against a single cone in practice while England were winning consecutive series.
  
March 18, 2006
Returning with the ring of fire
• After English cricket stumbled upon reaching the summit of the 2005 Ashes victory, Andrew Flintoff's Jonny-Cash inspired side overcame a glut of injuries to record a memorable victory against India in Mumbai. Anderson proved pivotal, taking 4 for 40, including Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, in the first innings and Virender Sehwag for a duck in the second.
  
May 2006
Injury strikes again
• Just when England needed Anderson to build a side for the upcoming Ashes defence, he went down with a stress fracture to the lower back that ruled him out of the 2006 home season.
  
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November 2006 to January 2007
Five-nil farce
• Having barely had any match practice, Anderson was included in Flintoff's team of crocks to challenge Australia at the Gabba. Unsurprisingly he struggled, taking 1 for 195 in the match. His luck didn't improve as England were crushed by Ricky Ponting's relentless team.
  
March to April 2007
Another failed World Cup
• Having bowled himself back into form through England's victorious one-day series in Australia, Anderson duly broke his finger and despite displaying his heart for a fight by battling through the pain to play in England's hopeless World Cup campaign, he was never at his threatening best.
  
July 2007
Rolling back the years
• Having made his debut five years earlier, Anderson seemed something of a veteran by 2007. Yet he was only 24 and after half a decade of coaches messing about with his action, Anderson took matters into his own hands. He returned to the head-ducking style that launched his career and announced himself as a genuine threat again with 5 for 42 against India at Lord's.
  
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March 2008
Daisy becomes leader
• His penchant for inconsistency moved some to label Anderson 'daisy'. Some days, such as his blistering 5 for 73 against New Zealand at Wellington, he does. Some days he doesn't, such as the next Test at Napier where he took 1 for 153 from 24 overs in the match. However as England desperately looked to move on from 2005 by ditching Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, Anderson was elevated to 'leader' the attack.
  
May 2008 to September 2009
Strauss's man
• As England went through from Vaughan to Pietersen before settling on Strauss as their captain, Anderson became a more vocal figure in the dressing room and on the field. Visibly growing into his senior role he became Strauss's go-to bowler and his nerveless batting at Cardiff secured England a crucial draw in the opening Test before his 4 for 55 in the first innings helped skittle Australia at Lord's and set up an Ashes victory.
  
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