But shouldn't cricket, using history's long lens, also reward durability? Anderson has bowled more than double the number of Test deliveries compared to Steyn. That's 21,000 more times in which roughly seven times his body weight has gone through Anderson's left leg at the point of delivery. Anderson has also taken roughly 60% more wickets, in this format at least.
When, in 2020, Anderson was rethinking his run-up to the crease following a significant calf injury, he made the decision to extend, rather than shorten his run up. He was accelerating too quickly for this version of his body to handle, he decided. At this point, nearly four full years ago remember, he'd already played more Tests than any seamer ever had. He was solving problems in terrain only he has ever trod. At what stage of the slow burn do we value it as much as the blinding flame? Every wicket Anderson takes now is a fresh step in seam-bowling fantasy land.
His is the "craft" school of seam-bowling. And no one has honed it at Test level for as long as he has. Zoom in to the physics of it all - the push with the middle finger at point of release that sends the outswinger surging out of his hand, the middle finger taking over when the inswinger comes out. Plus his still-growing mastery of reverse-swing (see ever-sharper average in Asia).
If Anderson is remembered only as the greatest England bowler, and not as an all-country destroyer of batting orders, perhaps this is merely a reflection of the selective memory of those who watch sports. You are also allowed to change your mind. Or more accurately, allowed to have Anderson change it for you. He has done what he has done at a ludicrously high level, for such a spectacularly long duration. This too is rare, all-time, genius.