Anderson declares himself fit for final Test

James Anderson has declared himself fit to return to England duty at the Rose Bowl although still needs to come through two days of training before rubber-stamping his place back in the pace line-up on Thursday.

Anderson was due to prove his fitness during Lancashire's Twenty20 match against Worcestershire at New Road on Sunday but the game was abandoned without a ball bowled due to persistent rain. Instead, he arrived at the Rose Bowl on Monday for a net session and will push himself hard ahead of the Test.

"I came down yesterday and had a bit of a bowl and felt fine after that, but the next couple of days are pretty important to get through," he said. "I've felt fine for a couple of weeks now - I felt fine before the Lord's Test. It would have been a risk to play in that game and I've had plenty of time to recover, get stronger, do a lot of bowling, so I'm feeling pretty comfortable."

Anderson bowled 28 overs in the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff, removing the experienced trio of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera. He batted as nightwatchman in England's first innings, but took no part in the England's dramatic victory on the final day after picking up a grade one side strain, and missed the second Test at Lord's.

It meant Anderson missed out on bowling on another flat Lord's pitch although he doesn't expect much to come easily at the Rose Bowl either. "It's going to be hard for us to get 20 wickets here, especially if the wicket is going to be as flat as it looks," he said.

"It's going to be hard work for us but it's something we've come up against in the past. I think the average first-innings score in Championship cricket has been 400. To be honest in Test cricket at the moment a lot of the pitches are flat and it's something we've had to learn to deal with."

Anderson replaced Surrey's Jade Dernbach in England's squad for the third Test and appears set to resume his role as leader of the bowling attack at the expense of either Steven Finn or Stuart Broad. Both Finn and Broad played alongside Chris Tremlett in the second Test, but with three tall hit-the-deck bowlers the lack of variety in England's attack was exposed and Tillakaratne Dilshan scored an excellent 193.

"He [Anderson] bowled extremely well at Cardiff and is a fine, top-class bowler," national selector Geoff Miller told BBC Radio 5 Live. "You always miss quality bowlers. But it is not just about one individual, it's about a squad of bowlers and people coming into the side for injuries.

"When you start being a successful international side you do have to make these difficult decisions so we'll wait and see what conditions are like down in Southampton and make the decision accordingly. That is what we are all about: strength in depth.

"Jimmy can pitch it up and swing [the ball]," added Miller. "The others are tall, bouncing bowlers and you are always looking for options because conditions alter and change and sometimes you need that difference. Jimmy is an extremely good exponent of that art."