Stuart Broad takes a dig at de Villiers, congratulates Anderson on his 500th

England fast bowler James Anderson’s bowling partner Stuart Broad has backed the latest entrant to the 500 wickets club. Broad said that it couldn’t have been better, as Anderson picked up his 500th scalp at Lord’s to end the summer on a high. Anderson went wicketless in the second innings of the 2nd Test match and picked up just two wickets in the first innings of the final game.

All-rounder Ben Stokes picked up his career-best figures of 6/22 and therefore Anderson had to wait for his turn, But the veteran of 129 Test matches, Anderson achieved his best Test match figure of 7/42 in the second innings.

500th at Lord’s

“For Jimmy Anderson to get his 500th wicket at Lord’s was the perfect way to round off an amazing summer. Not only that, he picked up a personal best seven for 42 and helped England win a Test match and a series. It really doesn’t get much better than that,” Broad wrote in his column in The Daily Mail.

“To go to another level at the age of 35 is a special place to be as a sportsman, and that is exactly what Jimmy has done. For all those 26 year olds out there having a hard time with their careers, take a look at this bloke: he’ll fill you with hope that the best years are still ahead,” he added.

Broad takes a dig at AB de Villiers

Broad took a dig at former South Africa captain AB de Villiers’ assessment that Anderson had lost his spunk, saying that the 35-year-old has bowled at his best in this English summer.

Broad wrote, “All summer, Jimmy’s been accurate, skillful, dangerous and economical. It wasn’t so long ago on a tour of South Africa that AB de Villiers was wondering if he had lost his nip. Well, the answer has been there for all to see in these last seven Tests.”