Anderson 'fresh' after round-the-world dash

James Anderson insists that his mind and body are fully attuned to the challenge of leading England's attack in the third Test at Perth, despite the competing emotions generated by the birth of his second daughter Ruby - an event for which he flew halfway around the world in the immediate aftermath of England's innings victory in the second Test at Adelaide, before rejoining the squad within hours of their arrival in Perth on Monday

While Anderson's trip was made with the full blessing of the ECB, who recognise the need to accommodate such life-changing events in the midst of an unrelenting international calendar, the timing was, in the words of the coach Andy Flower, "not ideal". With one half of England's new-ball attack, Stuart Broad, already ruled out with a torn stomach muscle, the last thing they need is for the other half to be jet-lagged and distracted going into the contest that could decide the outcome of the Ashes.

Anderson, however, is adamant that as soon as he sets foot on the pitch on Thursday morning, his mind will be fully occupied by the task of beating Australia. "I don't see why not," he said. "I didn't get into a sleep routine in England or acclimatise to English conditions. I tried to stay on Australian time and I think I've done that well. I had a good night's sleep last night, I've got two days' preparation before the Test, and I don't see why they won't go well. I feel fresh and probably happy for the rest from bowling after a tough first two Tests.

"It was nice to go back for a few days, and be there for the birth," he added. "In an ideal world I probably would've stayed a bit longer, but the nature of my job is I've got to be here and try to perform at my best for England. It's something we've all got to deal with at some stage. Many people in whatever jobs they do have to deal with stuff like this. It's another thing I've got to cope with and I'm sure I'll be fine."

Anderson confounded many people's expectations in those matches at Brisbane and Adelaide, during which he was consistently the most threatening seam bowler on either side. His efforts went under-rewarded at the Gabba but he made amends on the first day at Adelaide with a four-wicket haul that has to rank among his best performances for England, seeing as it limited Australia to an insubstantial, and ultimately decisive, first-innings total of 260.

With a total of 48 hours' travel either side of his five-day stop-over, Anderson had plenty time to mull over that performance, and his overall efforts on the first half of the tour, especially seeing as he set off for England within hours of the final Australian wicket falling in the second Test.

"I feel like it's part of my job as a bowler and I see myself as the leader of the attack here, so it's important I think about what went right for us in the last two games and what we can improve on for this game," he said. "I did plenty of that as did the guys who were still here. They've thought about things we can improve on, and we've spoken about it already."

It's not the first time that Anderson has experienced the conflicting emotions of leaving behind a new-born to go and represent his country, following the birth of his eldest daughter, Lola Rose, in January 2009, although the timing is doubly unfortunate on this occasion, seeing as his return to the squad has coincided with the arrival of his team-mates' families for the Christmas season. Anderson, however, insisted he was unfazed: "I quite enjoy seeing other people's kids," he said. "It's quite nice having a family atmosphere around the team."

The whirlwind circumstances of an eventful week will need to be left behind quickly, however, if Anderson and England are to capitalise on the momentum generated by their victory at Adelaide. With Australia needing two wins from the last three Tests to have a hope of regaining the Ashes, the prospect of a fast and bouncy WACA wicket has got both sets of players salivating at the opportunities that lie in wait. Anderson, however, remained cautious about its reputation.

"It's nice to hear there might be some pace in the pitch, with a bit of grass left on it," he said. "But we'll have to see what sort of pitch we get. We've still got to prepare as if it's not going to swing. If it does, then it's a nice bonus for us. Our tour match here [in November] was a lot different to what I remember from four years ago, and how everyone talks about the WACA. It was very slow for what people say is a quick, bouncy pitch, so it will be interesting to see how different this one is."

England's reserve seamers - Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad - were certainly confounded by the conditions at the MCG this week, where they were limited to a solitary wicket in 76 overs of hard toil. But regardless of which of them he plays alongside, Anderson was confident of their abilities to fill the vacancy left by Broad.

"Tremlett has a massive advantage with his height, and might get some bounce out of the pitch," he said. "Bresnan is a very skilful bowler who can bat as well and he has made some valuable contributions with the bat in our one-day side. Shahzad bowled fantastically well in Hobart. All three guys could do a fantastic job. I'm not sure it's that big a decision and luckily I'm not the one who has to make it.

"I'm feeling pretty fresh. I feel fine, and whoever replaces Stuart, we've got three guys raring to go," he added. "They're all quality bowlers and I'm sure they'll fill Stuart's shoes as well as they can. We're trying not to think about retaining the Ashes. We're concentrating solely on this game, because we've worked really hard to get into this position and we don't want to let that slip now."