Anderson comes through first bowl

Jimmy Anderson made a brief, but encouraging, return to action on Thursday night during Andrew Flintoff's Twenty20 benefit match at Old Trafford. Anderson bowled his four overs for 29 runs as an England XI narrowly beat a Lancashire XI by two runs.

It was Anderson's first bowl in match conditions since the end of England's tour of India where he picked up a stress fracture of the back during the one-day series.

Andrew Strauss helped his side to an impressive 185 for 7, blasting 54 off just 33 balls including nine fours and a six. Lancashire responded promisingly in reply but fell short of their target despite valiant efforts by Darren Lehmann, hitting a well-made 49, and Chris Cairns who blasted 46 from 21 balls.

Anderson will continue his recovery when he plays for his club side in Burnley this weekend, but is unlikely to feature for Lancashire this season. "It could be difficult to squeeze Jimmy into our side in the remain games," said Mike Watkinson, Lancashire's cricket manager, "especially as we are up there in the Championship. We can't take any risks with players."

Although he has been named in England's 30-man Champions Trophy squad his lack of cricket means that there is very little chance of him earning a spot in the final squad.