Anderson back to his best after years of injury trouble

James Anderson's career was slowed by attempts to change his action. But if it isn't broken, don't try and fix it, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian.

Seven years or so ago, not long after Jimmy Anderson burst so ebulliently on to the international scene with a seam position to die for and a host of wickets as he swung the ball round corners, it was clear he had a flaw in his action, in the sense that it was not textbook. Yet it produced. Fast forward a few years, some tinkering behind him, and what worked was broken, literally in the case of his back, which sustained stress fractures that sidelined him for most of the 2006 season. It has taken years of hard work, disappointment, inconsistency and a total rebuilding of confidence to get him back to where he started.

Jimmy Anderson is not even sure yet that he is the leader of the attack. Maybe he would prefer that he was not, or that it had not been noticed. But he is and it has, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.