page_title: James Anderson (cricketer)
section_title: 2004–05: West Indies, Zimbabwe and Pakistan
hierarchical_section_title: James Anderson (cricketer) / International career / 2004–05: West Indies, Zimbabwe and Pakistan
caption_attribution_description: James Anderson bowling in the nets at Adelaide Oval
context_page_description: James Michael Anderson, OBE, is an English international cricketer who plays for Lancashire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. Anderson is the all-time leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers and holds the record of most wickets for England in both Test and One-Day International cricket. He is the first fast bowler as well as the first English bowler, and the fourth overall, to pass 600 Test wickets.
  A right-arm pace bowler, Anderson arrived on the international scene in 2002/03 and has played for England in more than 150 Test matches and nearly 200 One Day Internationals. Injuries, including a stress fracture of the back which kept him out of action for most of the 2006 season, limited his appearances in his early career, but he has since become established as the key opening bowler in England's Test team. He was a regular strike bowler in England's one-day team but has not played in that format since the 2015 World Cup.
  Anderson was the first English bowler to reach 400, 500 and 600 wickets in Test matches. As of August 2020 he is ranked 8th in the ICC Test Bowling Rankings, having previously reached the top position at various times between 2016 and 2018.
context_section_description: Although fit and included in both the Test and one-day squads for the tour of the West Indies, Anderson did not play in the Test series, having been superseded by players such as James Kirtley. He did feature in the ODI series which England drew 2–2, playing in 4 matches and taking 4 wickets at an average of 37.00; in the final match of the series, Anderson took his 50th ODI wicket, that of Chris Gayle for 41. After the ODI series against the West Indies, Anderson had 50 wickets from 31 ODIs at an average of 23.78.
  Anderson retained his place in the Test squad, and his next big break came when an injury to Simon Jones forced the Welshman out of the last three Tests of the 2004 summer series against the West Indies. Despite being in the team, Anderson's bowling was used infrequently. It was clear now that Anderson had now not only lost all his form and rhythm, but consequentially all his confidence as well. A performance by a resurgent Anderson in the final Test of the summer prompted speculation that he had regained his confidence and would return to the top of his game. He was selected for the winter tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa. Much of the post-season talk, however, was dominated by the debate over whether to go on tour to Zimbabwe. England eventually did end up in Harare, after a brief stop over in Namibia. Anderson once again struggled in his three One-Day appearances. The England management, however, continued to show faith in his ability.
  Travelling as a barely-used reserve on the winter South Africa tour while seemingly struggling for form, Anderson was given another shot at redemption, after Simon Jones was dropped for the third Test after a poor performance in the second. Anderson, though, did even worse than Jones, collecting figures of 2/117 and 0/32 in his two innings. Anderson spent the following summer with Lancashire; bowling regularly a quota of overs one would associate with a new ball bowler, something he had not done enough in his England stint. He was recalled to the England squad for the last match of the 2005 Ashes series after taking 60 wickets for Lancashire in 2005, once again as a replacement for the injured Jones, but all-rounder Paul Collingwood was selected for the team.
  Anderson was selected in the Test squad for the tour of Pakistan, but spinner Shaun Udal was chosen to fill the bowler's spot left empty by the still injured Simon Jones. When Ashley Giles had to miss the third Test due to injury, young Durham debutant seamer Liam Plunkett was chosen ahead of Anderson and Anderson did not play a single Test on the tour. Despite this disappointment he played in all five of England's One-Day games in Pakistan, showing improvements in form to be England's joint-leading wicket-taker in the series with Andrew Flintoff, taking 7 wickets at 25.57.
caption: Anderson bowls in the Adelaide Oval nets.
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