James Anderson, at 42, you show what i takes to be, well James Anderson..

In one of the highest cricket grounds on earth in Dharamshala,  an amazing cricketing career reached a statistical peak.

James Anderson became only the third bowler in Test history to breach the 700-wicket mark. It's a staggering achievement at many levels. First of all, there's the sheer longevity factor itself: only Sachin Tendulkar has played more Tests than Anderson's 187; among fast bowlers, the next best is Stuart Broad with 167, but the third-highest is only 132, by Courtney Walsh. You may argue that England plays more cricket than West Indies. And its true. But playing that many matches as a fast bowler is never easy.

James Anderson is like wine. Ages well with time. And his numbers in the second half of his career is better than the first past.

Till wicket number 400, he averaged at least 27 in each of the four 100-wicket blocks; since then, it's been under 25, with his best phase being from 400 to 500, when he averaged under 20. He slowed down for his last 100 though: it took him 31 Tests, primarily because his last eight Tests - four in the Ashes and four in India - fetched him just 15 wickets.

This ESPN analysis shows it all in right perspective.

Breaking up his career into three blocks, the improvement at each stage is obvious: an average of nearly 35 in his first 44 Tests, which dropped to 27 in his next 47, which has further improved to 22.66 in his last 96.