James Anderson picks up 100th Test catch - five other English players to achieve the unique feat

England are playing India at Edgbaston, Birmingham, in the fifth rescheduled Test of the 2021 series. The visitors are comfortably placed in the match at lunch on Day 4. 

At the time of writing, the Men in Blue have a massive lead of 361 runs, and the hosts are staring at a likely defeat. 

Meanwhile, veteran English pacer James Anderson has achieved one more international record. As the pacer took the catch of Shreyas Iyer in the second innings of the match, he became the 10th Englishman to pocket 100 Test catches.

 Here we look at the top five players (barring wicket-keepers) with the most catches in the game's longest format. 

1. Alastair Cook: Alastair Cook is not only the highest run-scorer for England but also the man who has taken the most number of catches for the team in Tests.

Cook took 175 catches in 300 innings. His catch per innings stat reads 0.583. 

2. Joe Root: The backbone of the English batting line-up at present, Joe Root is in second place in the list. He has played 121 Tests for his country and has taken 158 catches in them. 

Root has taken 0.689 catches per innings in his Test career thus far.

3. Andrew Strauss: The former English opener and skipper took 121 catches during his playing career. Strauss played a total of 100 Tests in his career. 

The former batting superstar took 0.640 catches per innings. 

4. Ian Botham: Speak of an English all-rounder, and the first name that comes to mind is that of Ian Botham. Botham has probably impacted English cricket the most in its history.

Besides being brilliant in batting and bowling, he was also an excellent fielder. His fielding prowess is evident because he took a total of 120 catches in 102 matches. Botham took 0.670 catches per innings during his career.

5. Michael Cowdrey: In a career spanning 21 years, Cowdrey played 114 Test matches. He took 120 catches in these matches at a rate of 0.560 catches per innings. 

James Anderson, the man with the highest number of Test wickets (657) as a pacer, has now joined this esteemed list. In a career of 172 matches, Anderson has taken 100 catches at a rate of 0.307 catches per innings. 

All stats are relevant as of lunch on Day 4 of the England vs India rescheduled Test.