26-year age gap! James Anderson plays alongside 17-year-old Farhan Ahmed
What's the story
In a remarkable moment, 43-year-old James Anderson shared the field with teenager Farhan Ahmed during the 2025 Men's Hundred. The duo featured in Manchester Originals' opening match against Southern Brave. Although Manchester lost the match, it saw an uncanny age gap between legend Anderson and 17-year-old Farhan Ahmed. As per ESPNcricinfo, Anderson already had 191 international wickets before Ahmed was even born.
Context
Why does this story matter?
In 2024, Anderson retired as the pacer with most wickets across formats. With 991 scalps, the legendary speedster is only behind Muthiah Muralidaran (1,347) and Shane Warne (1,001). Anderson, who recently returned to T20 cricket, played his 2025 Hundred opener aged 43 years and 7 days. He shared the field with off-spinner Farhan Ahmed (17 years and 165 days on match day).
Wickets
How Anderson fared until February 2008
Ahmed was born on February 22, 2008, in Nottingham. Anderson, who made his international debut in 2002, had already taken 191 wickets by then. The Englishman had little success in the 20 Tests he had played, taking just 62 wickets at 39.20. He had a better record in ODIs - 120 wickets from 85 matches at 28.95. Anderson had also played nine T20Is.
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Records set by Anderson
Anderson broke quite a few records in the following years. He finished as the only pacer with 700-plus wickets in Test cricket. Anderson also has the second-highest caps in Test history (188). He remains the only Englishman with 250-plus ODI wickets (269).
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Who is Farhan Ahmed?
Farhan is the younger brother of England's emerging leg-spinner, Rehan Ahmed. The former, who bowls off-spin, made England's Under-19 World Cup squad at the age of 15. He has 39 First-Class and eight T20 wickets to his name.
Do you know?
Second-oldest player to feature in Men's Hundred
As per ESPNcricinfo, Anderson became the second-oldest player to feature in Men's Hundred. He is only behind South African legend Imran Tahir, who played for Birmingham Phoenix aged 43 years and 149 days.