History was made during an astonishing afternoon of cricket at Emirates Old Trafford as Lancashire’s James Anderson claimed both his 1,000th first class wicket and his best career bowling figures of seven for 19 against Kent.

Anderson’s exploits ensured Kent were dismissed for just 74 in a shade over two hours after the players finally took to the field at 2pm on the second day following almost incessant rain throughout the first four sessions of the game.

Taking the new ball Anderson, 38, took a wicket in each of his first three overs, before adding four more as Kent’s top order were blown away in an extraordinary spell from the Burnley-born bowler whose previous best figures were his seven for 42 for England against West Indies in 2017.

The wickets of Zak Crawley, edging to Rob Jones at second slip without scoring, Jordan Cox, edging to Luke Wells at first slip for one and Ollie Robinson, feathering one through to wicket keeper Dane Vilas for 0, were near identical examples of Anderson’s mastery of swing and reduced Kent to five for three

.Jack Leaning became Anderson’s 999th victim when he edged to Jones for two before the stage was set for South African Heino Kuhn to become England’s leading Test wicket taker’s 1,000th scalp, 19 years after Surrey’s Ian Ward became his first.

Typically, Anderson didn’t stop there, taking his sixth wicket with the dismissal of Matt Milnes in his next over for one as Vilas claimed another catch after Danny Lamb spoilt Anderson’s chances of a 10 for by trapping Joe Denly in front for 12.

Anderson’s seventh wicket arrived in the 17th over with Vilas taking his fourth catch off the veteran bowler to dismiss Harry Podmore for three to leave Kent 34 for eight and looking every inch a side without a win in the LV=Insurance County Championship this season.

Only 45-year-old Darren Stevens offered any kind of resistance, bashing four boundaries in his knock of 19 before Lamb had him caught at mid off with the same bowler also accounting for James Logan who became the last wicket to fall for 11.

Both Lamb’s three for 16 and Vilas’ five catches were of course overshadowed by Anderson’s efforts and he received a standing ovation from the ecstatic crowd as he walked off as only the 13th Lancashire bowler to complete the feat of a 1,000 first class wickets and becoming the first fast bowler to do it since Ken Higgs in 1968 and the first of any Red Rose bowler since Jack Simmons in 1988.

With many observers still confused by Kent’s decision to bat first, Lancashire’s openers entered the fray after tea and quickly looked like they were playing a different game.

Alex Davies was his usual busy self, scampering singles and hitting five fours and a six in his 43-ball 47 as he compiled an opening stand of 64 with Keaton Jennings before mistiming a cut shot off Matt Quinn through to Jordan Cox at first slip.

More late drama was to follow as Jennings and Luke Wells fell in consecutive balls to Quinn and Milnes with Vilas departing soon after to Stevens before Josh Bohannon was bowled by Kent debutant James Logan to leave the hosts 108 for five at the close. 

James Anderson, Lancashire bowler said at the end of the day’s play:

“It feels great – I have been getting ribbed from the lads upstairs because I genuinely didn’t know how many wickets I’d taken. At first I thought they were going a bit over the top for a five for but to see the reaction from the lads was really special and then to get to chew the fat with them after the day was really nice.”

“It feels special to get the milestone here where I took my first wicket – it still sounds ridiculous to think I’ve taken 1,000 wickets. I’ll look back on this in years to come and think more about it but right now spending time with the lads and the reaction from the crowd is special. Getting Ian Ward out here was something I’ll never forget – it was a lifelong dream to play for Lancashire.”

“I’m away a lot with England and don’t get to play much for Lancashire so it makes that much more special to do it here and with a performance that helps the team. It’s a day I’ll never forget.”

“I have been doing loads of work in the nets and all I was thinking about today was grooving my action and working on some stuff – I wanted to make sure I bowled well and got into that rhythm. Luckily it came off today.”

“I felt really good from ball one. Sometimes you can just feel that way from the moment the ball comes and you know it’s going to be a good day. The first ball went exactly where I wanted it to go, it swung, the conditions were favourable, it carried which means you don’t have to force and if you find the right length the nicks will carry. From then on I was just trying to challenge the defence of the batters as much as possible.”

“To get 1,000 wickets is becoming harder with the amount of cricket that is played across the world and it is getting less and less likely that it will happen again. I could potentially be the last person to do it which just adds to the feeling of it being very, very special.”

Meanwhile, Matt Quinn, the Kent bowler, said:

“It was a tough day and obviously it didn’t go how we wanted it to with the bat but I thought we bowled well as a group.”

“I try and build pressure and for me it was more about not going for runs but it’s always nice to take some wickets and I’m pretty pleased to get the openers out.”

“As a bowling unit we knew what our job was and we’re pretty pleased with how we went about it.”

“Jimmy Anderson is a very special bowler but I had no idea about the 1,000th wicket. I realised pretty quickly that something was happening with all the fireworks around the ground!”