[36] In 2008, after the Test and One-Day series against South Africa ended at the beginning of September, Anderson was unavailable to play for Lancashire for the rest of the season.

[44] He showed good promise in this series – a three-team tournament also including Sri Lanka – which earned him a place in the 2003 World Cup squad.

His hat-trick against Pakistan, the first by an English bowler in an ODI, claimed the wickets of Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami.

[51] In August, despite a mixed series against South Africa, Anderson was named Young Cricketer of the Year; he became the first player to be unanimously voted for the award.

[55] After the South Africa series and some good performances by other bowlers during the Bangladesh tour, Anderson admitted that he was no longer an automatic choice for England.

Travelling as a barely-used reserve on the winter South Africa tour while seemingly struggling for form, Anderson was given another shot at redemption, after Simon Jones was dropped for the third Test after a poor performance in the second.

He was recalled to the England squad for the last match of the 2005 Ashes series after taking 60 wickets for Lancashire in 2005, once again as a replacement for the injured Jones, but all-rounder Paul Collingwood was selected for the team.

[63] Anderson was selected in the Test squad for the tour of Pakistan, but spinner Shaun Udal was chosen to fill the bowler's spot left empty by the still-injured Simon Jones.

[67] In February, days before the start of the first A-match between England and the West Indies, Anderson (along with batsmen Alastair Cook and Owais Shah) was called up as an injury reinforcement to the England senior squad in India, after captain Michael Vaughan and fast bowler Simon Jones flew home with knee injuries and vice-captain Marcus Trescothick departed for undisclosed "personal" reasons.

He recovered from his back injury and was expected to play ahead of the likes of Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood, and Jon Lewis.

However, on 14 March 2007, only days before England's first game, it was reported by the BBC that Anderson had broken his finger during fielding practice and his involvement in the tournament was in question, although he was able to play despite the pain.

[78] Anderson played in all three Tests of the series with India, coming into the side for the injured Matthew Hoggard and leading a pace attack comprising himself, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett with only 20 caps between them.

[95] In an effort to regain some form, Anderson was allowed to join Auckland Cricket Club, who were lacking their strike bowlers due to international call-ups, as an overseas player.

[96] The move was controversial with critics including Gavin Larsen, Wellington Cricket Club's chief executive, who feared that Anderson would be able to bowl himself into form.

[97] Although he was left out for the first Test, Anderson was recalled for the second when he and Stuart Broad replaced the out-of-form Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard after England were defeated by 189 runs; the decision to axe both bowlers was heralded as the end of an era in English cricket.

[104] In the second Test, Anderson finished with match figures of 5/139 as England won by six wickets; on the first day, he struck New Zealand batsman Daniel Flynn in the face, knocking out a tooth, in a spell of short, aggressive bowling when he also hit Jacob Oram on the helmet.

[110] After the Test series against New Zealand, Anderson's figures revealed that he struggled to bowl to left-handed batsmen and his contrasting fortunes between the start of his career and his resurgence.

With the form of Ryan Sidebottom a cause for concern, and some doubts over his fitness, Anderson was recalled for the second Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

[123] After sitting out the tour match against the BCA President's XI in Barbados, England and the West Indies played the fourth Test at the Kensington Oval.

With England playing well in the tournament, and with the three-man seam attack of Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom and Tim Bresnan performing, Anderson could not break into the side.

As expected, Anderson was selected in the England squad to play Australia, where he developed his own wobble-seam delivery to combat the Kookaburra ball that doesn't swing as much for as long.

Anderson did not appear in England's final match against Sri Lanka, in which they lost by ten wickets and so bowed out at the quarter-final stage of the competition.

Anderson hit his maiden first-class fifty as well as posting the highest score (81 runs) by an England No 11 batsman in Test history.

He and Root also set a new world record for a 10th-wicket partnership in Test cricket scoring 198 runs, beating the 163 run-partnership by Australians Phillip Hughes and Ashton Agar at Trent Bridge on 11 July 2013.

Stokes was arrested in the early hours of the morning following the third ODI against West Indies at Bristol in September 2017 from an incident near a night club, at which teammate Alex Hales was also present.

[155] Midway through the Ashes tour England Lions batsman Ben Duckett was suspended after pouring a drink over Anderson in a Perth bar.

[156] Anderson played all five Test matches in the Ashes but could not prevent his team losing possession of the urn, with England slipping to a 4–0 series defeat.

[190] Commenting on this achievement in The Times, former England Test captain Mike Atherton stated that "[i]t can be said with absolute certainty that no fast bowler will come close to matching Anderson’s tally.

[195][196] Anderson accepted a mentoring role with the team for the remaining two matches against the West Indies, and subsequent Test series against Sri Lanka.

[199][200] On 25 July 2016, during the second Test of that year's England-Pakistan series at Old Trafford, Anderson became the first fast bowler to take 50 wickets against all other seven major Test-playing nations, Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.