As a child growing up in Burnley James Anderson watched Sir Ian Botham's Ashes heroics on loop and now, on the cusp of a 100th Test appearance, he is set to take his place in the record books.
Botham's position in the country's affections will probably never be usurped, but four West Indian wickets in Antigua next week will see Anderson stand alone as England highest Test wicket-taker.
Botham's mark of 383 has stood unbroken for 23 years but will almost certainly tumble in the Caribbean, with Anderson lying in wait on 380 ahead of the three-match series.
Few could begrudge the 32-year-old his place in history, after 12 years of stellar service to the Three Lions.
Anderson has spent much of his adult life as England's king of swing, emerging as a teenage prodigy barely out of club cricket and refining his art to virtuoso levels after some early teething problems.
But before all that he was a young cricket fan revelling in Botham's brilliance.
"I was born in 1982 but my Dad had the '81 Ashes video and growing up I had that on all the time," he said.
"He's a legend of the game and a legend of English cricket. For me to have the opportunity to go past him is a dream come true.
"For a bowler there's no greater achievement.
"I can't quite believe I've got this far."
Despite the scale of the achievement ahead of him, the Lancashire seamer is keen not to turn the Antigua Test into the Anderson show.
He would be forgiven for basking in the moment - only 12 other Englishmen have ever won a century of caps, and of those only Botham shared Anderson's labours as a fast bowler.
“I have been preparing like it is any other Test and so have the guys,” he said.
“I’m obviously excited. It’s a huge milestone for me as an individual, but it’s not all about me tomorrow – it’s a huge Test match for us as a team.
“We’ve got to put a pretty ordinary winter behind us and look at winning some Test matches now.
“We’ve got a lot of hard work to do out here, we know it is going to be tough, but we’re really excited about the challenge.”