James Anderson has taken a remarkable 657 Test match wickets during an illustrious and storied career and the fact the England seamer remains at the top of his game at the age of 40 is a truly magnificent achievement.
Anderson turns 40 today and will head into next month's three Test series against South Africa in excellent form, having picked up 17 wickets at 18.29 since returning to the side this summer after he was controversially dropped following the Ashes.
Despite admitting he did briefly contemplate retiring after being axed in February, Anderson says he is keen to continue playing at the highest level for as long as possible.
He burst onto the international scene in December 2002, making his ODI debut at the age of just 20 against Australia at the MCG, having made just a handful of white-ball appearances for Lancashire. Anderson later made England's 2003 World Cup squad and was their leading wicket-taker, with his success in one-day cricket earning him a Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's.
And he picked up a five-wicket haul on debut, taking 5-73 in the first innings as England won the match by an innings and 92 runs. "It is incredible the speed it has gone, it is amazing," Anderson said after the game.
"I am absolutely delighted with the way I bowled in that spell. I have seen players up there [on the honours board] from the 1800s and I am honoured to have my name up already."
However, it was not plain sailing for Anderson for the first few years of his England career, as he struggled with consistency and injury problems. He spent 2004 on the fringes of the Test team, before missing England's 2005 Ashes triumph.
He was called into the squad for the fifth Test after Simon Jones was ruled out with an ankle injury, but Paul Collingwood was ultimately picked ahead of him. Speaking on the Barmy Army's The Shackles Are Off podcast, Anderson later admitted he was actually "quite happy" that he was not selected.
"To be honest, I feel like I wasn't ready to be playing for England at that point," he said. "I was going through a bad trot.
"During that period and even when I got called up for that fifth Test in the 2005 Ashes, I was almost hoping I wouldn't get picked because I didn't think I was ready. I didn't think I was in a great place, I didn't know my game very well, I didn't know what my action was doing.
"I think I got 60 wickets that summer for Lancs but I averaged like 31, so I wasn't bowling well. So, yeah. I'm quite happy they went with Colly in that last game, to be honest."
Anderson had particularly struggled when England tried to remodel his action and run-up, but returned to his a more natural way of bowling in 2008 and enjoyed some real breakthrough performances in Test cricket against New Zealand both home and away.
Having been handed the new ball after 2005 Ashes heroes Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison were dropped for the tour of New Zealand, Anderson teamed up with Stuart Broad for the first time in their careers in the second Test at Wellington and took 5-73 in the first innings, with his natural out swinger proving a particularly potent threat.
He followed that up with a then career-best display against New Zealand at Trent Bridge where he took 7-43, ripping through the visitors' top order with a stunning display of swing bowling. The following year, Andy Flower took over as England's head coach and Anderson began to truly excel, helping England become the number one Test team in the world and win the 2010-11 Ashes down under.
That series was the first time England had won the Ashes in Australia in 24 years and Anderson finished as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps. He also played a key role in England's historic 2-1 series win in India in 2012, their first since 1985, picking up a combined six wickets in the third Test in Kolkata.
In 2015, Anderson overtook Sir Ian Botham to become England's leading Test wicket taker, with West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin becoming his 383rd victim. He then took his 500th Test wicket in 2017, bowling West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite, and his 600th in 2020 when he dismissed Pakistan's Azhar Ali.
Anderson currently sits third in the all-time list behind the late great Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan and he has showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. "He is the GOAT of Test cricket," England teammate Joe Root said last year.
"He churns out performances and sets a wonderful tone for the rest of the bowling group. He is a brilliant example. To still be as fit as he is at his age and to consistently perform as he does [is fantastic]."
