As Jimmy Anderson prepares to play his 100th Test - needing only three wickets to equal Ian Botham’s England-record haul of 383 - Sportsmail's Lawrence Booth spoke to those who knew him and played with him in his early days for Burnley, Lancashire and England. England quick James Anderson plays his 100th Test match in Antigua against the West Indies from Monday . Anderson needs just three wickets to go level with Sir Ian Botham as England's top Test wicket taker . MICHAEL BROWN . Burnley CC team-mate, now club chairman . We used to call Jimmy the ‘Pro Killer’. Playing in the Lancashire League, he’d regularly get the opposition professional out. He was quite a slight kid. It was probably when he was 17 that we thought, wow, he’s got some pace. And he had this ability to bowl jaffas. When he bowled so brilliantly against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup everyone at Burnley was saying: ‘We’ve seen these magic balls before.’ Anderson was known as Pro Killer during his days with Burnley, reveals former team-mate and now club chairman Michael Brown . My mum can take some of the credit for Jimmy being signed by Lancashire. He was bowling really well for Burnley, and she rang up John Stanworth, who was at the club at the time. Jimmy was invited for trials by Lancashire and that was that. He was always a shy lad. But he cares very much. JOHN STANWORTH . Former Lancashire player development manager . His potential was brought to my attention by Val Brown so I’m not going to take credit for unearthing Jimmy. I didn’t necessarily think he’d be the bowler he is today but there was just something about him. When he arrived for Under 17 nets he was a shy introvert but with the ability to bowl at good pace. But it was the late swing that stood out. Even established batsmen struggled to line him up. They were playing and missing all the time. He made them look ordinary. In the early days I just left him alone. He had these unusual mannerisms, like not looking at the batsman at the point of delivery, and a strange rotation of the shoulders. But I ignored all that even when coaches at other counties were pointing it out. I just said: ‘We’ve got a 17-year-old bowling 80mph and getting the top three out!’ WARREN HEGG . Anderson’s first captain at Lancashire and wicketkeeper . He burst on to the scene in my first year as captain. There was talk of this kid from the valleys in Lancashire. He wouldn’t say boo to a goose but bowled like the speed of light with the funniest action. He bowled to me in a centre net practice at Old Trafford and was either turning me inside out or hitting me on the shin. I thought: ‘Either I’m losing it or this kid’s special’. And he really was. We sat down with coach Mike Watkinson and tried to work out how to set fields that were both attacking and defensive at the same time in case he sent down the odd poor ball. So we’d have three slips, a gully and a deep point. It gave him confidence to concentrate on how to be a fast bowler. He went from strength to strength. Anderson (back row second from left) 'wouldn’t say boo to a goose but bowled like the speed of light,' says his 2002 Lancashire captain Warren Hegg (front row fifth from left) He was a keeper’s dream. He was in the high-80s and took the ball away so I always thought I was going to get a nick. That said, he was partly responsible for ending my career a few games early. He bowled James Middlebrook down at Chelmsford and I dislocated a thumb after the ball ricocheted off the bails. But I could console myself with the thought that I’d kept to England’s best. MIKE WATKINSON . Anderson’s first coach at Lancashire . I was coaching the Lancashire second team when Jimmy arrived. He had wicked pace back then - probably even more than he has now - but he could be a little inconsistent. Some would swing, others wouldn’t. I’d been a swing bowler myself before changing to spin and I did some work with him before one game at Middleton. I tried to convey to him the importance of the relationship between the ball and the fingertips. He related to it straight away. Since then, he’s worked things out for himself. Jimmy’s been his own best coach. IAN WARD . Anderson’s first first-class victim: Lancashire v Surrey, Old Trafford, May 31, 2002 . He was then as he is now - as lithe as a whippet. His run-up was the same. I just remember him being quality. He had this very fast arm which was difficult to pick up at first. To me, a left-hander, it was an awayswinger. I remember getting one that was too good for me and edged it to Warren Hegg. Sky Sports commentator Ian Ward (left with Shane Warne) was Jimmy's first first-class victim . I thought ‘Christ, this guy can bowl!’ In those days Lancashire had Peter Martin and Glen Chapple and we weren’t expecting them to go on forever. We thought, they’ve found another one already. That was the talk in the Surrey dressing-room. And when he got Ramps in the second innings you could see he had something different. MARK RAMPRAKASH . Dismissed first ball in the second innings of the above match . I faced his first couple of balls in the first innings and they were wide of off stump. But they went through noticeably quickly and hit the keeper’s gloves quite hard. He was swinging it and getting it through at a good lick. Mark Ramprakash, now England batting coach, was dismissed LBW with the first ball of the second innings . In the second innings he gave me a straight one first ball. It was fast and swinging in and it hit me plumb in front. I was beaten for pace and a little bit of inswing, or maybe reverse. It was a terrific delivery. You tend to remember when a young man comes in and does that straight away. It raised a few eyebrows. At the Old Trafford Test against India last summer I was sitting on the team balcony as batting coach and I couldn’t remember a better exhibition of swing bowling. To witness that live was amazing. NASSER HUSSAIN . Anderson’s first England captain, in 2002-03 . He came into the team after yet another Ashes disaster. He was a breath of fresh air, a natural talent - very un-English! He wasn’t over-coached or too technical. He just ran in and bowled swing. He was the kind of player you might get from Pakistan. Anderson and his first England captain Nasser Hussain celebrate a wicket during the 2003 World Cup . For such a young lad, he wasn’t someone you needed to over-manage or look after. He was incredibly quiet but he knew exactly what he wanted to do. If anything I probably had such a good impression of him that I gave him more responsibility than I should have done - like bowling him instead of Andrew Caddick at the end of our World Cup game against Australia at Port Elizabeth in 2003. He got hit for six and I apologised to him later. He was playing pool, shrugged his shoulders, and got on with his game. But I knew he was going to be one of our greats. It’s one thing being a swing bowler but it’s the way he could get it to go so late. I faced him just once and he got me first ball at Old Trafford as part of a hat-trick. He’s a very clever cricketer. MARK BUTCHER . Man of the match on Anderson’s Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s in 2003 . Anderson celebrates the wicket of Zimbabwe's Travis Friend with Michael Vaughan (right) and Robert Key (left) during his debut Test at Lord's in May 2003, in which Mark Butcher claimed five wickets and man of the match . Like Jimmy, I took five wickets in that game. I like to think I taught him everything he knows about swing bowling. This was the first time I’d seen him close up. He swung it both ways and at serious pace. I thought, we’ve found one here. I took a catch off him. Andy Bignaut was trying to work one through square-leg but he nicked it to slip. It was a cracking delivery. It’s an easy thing to do when you’re new to get your bouncer through quickly, then send down something a bit floaty when you bowl a fuller length. But his full balls were coming out at a good pace too. He was brilliant.
James Anderson plays his 100th Test match in Antigua starting Monday.
The quick needs four scalps to become England top Test wicket taker.
He was called 'Pro Killer' as a teen knocking over batsmen for Burnley.
Mark Butcher recalls Jimmy's Test debut at Lord’s back in 2003.