CRICKET:JAMES ANDERSON is confident he will be fit to return to England duty at the Rose Bowl on Thursday despite yesterday's washout for his county Lancashire. The clash with Worcestershire at New Road was abandoned without a ball being bowled after a steady downpour which had set in at dawn.

Recalled to the England squad for the third Test against Sri Lanka, 28-year-old Anderson was hoping to confirm his recovery from a side strain by bowling four overs for the Red Rose. He had been assured of his place providing he came through unscathed, but in the event his only pain was financial as he was restricted to the card table throughout.

“I’ve come through relatively unscathed – I lost a bit of cash!” he joked. He added: “Getting my four overs of action would have helped that bit more, but unfortunately it’s not to be. I’d quite like to get the overs under my belt because a match situation’s very different to bowling in the nets. Unfortunately it’s not going to happen, but I feel fine and hopefully I’ll be fit for Thursday’s Test. It was a very minor (strain). I think it was more precautionary and if I’d carried on bowling in the Cardiff game it could have got a lot worse.”

He replaces Surrey’s Jade Dernbach in the squad and his return will add variety to the attack which lacked penetration in the second Test at Lord’s. England’s batsmen have given the selectors a less strenuous workout this week, with Kevin Pietersen’s second-innings 72 enough to calm the whispers over his form and Eoin Morgan justifying his place at number six with an enterprising 79.

England Squad

Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Steve Finn.