England's James Anderson celebrates his wicket of Ross Taylor of New Zealand during the first test match. Photo / Getty Images
Jimmy Anderson will shortly become the 26th bowler to 300 wickets, and for more than one reason he'd rather it was sooner than later.
Sure, there's the personal reasons, and probably the stopping of the questions about what it will mean, but also because the more wickets he takes at
Eden Park in the third and deciding test of the ANZ international series from tomorrow, the better the chances of helping England clinch a series victory at the last.
Anderson stands at 295 wickets. Only four Englishmen are ahead of him. He's taken seven wickets in the first two tests at 33 apiece and there's a sense he'd like to get the milestone out of the way.
"It would be a huge achievement," the 30-year-old Lancastrian said of the triple hundred. "But first of all I've got to get some wickets. It's something, once I get into the game, I won't be thinking about."
He's feeling okay, the rained out final day in Wellington last Monday giving Anderson and his seam bowling chums Stuart Broad and Steven Finn an extra day's rest, "so I hope, come Friday, my body will be ready to go five days again".
