JAMES Anderson believes his disappointments with England have made him into a better bowler.

The Lancashire pace star was man-of-the-match in the final one-day international against Pakistan at Rawalpindi as he claimed 4-48 to help England to victory.

But it has been a hard slog for the Burnley Express to get back to the dizzy heights he enjoyed when he burst onto the international scene against Australia three years ago.

He hasn't played Test cricket since last winter's tour of South Africa when he finished with 2-117 in the first innings and was only used for six overs in the second innings of the fourth Test.

He went back to county cricket in the summer and finished as Lancashire's leading wicket-taker.

Now, he is hoping to break up the four-strong pace attack which won the Ashes for England this summer and win a place in the World Cup squad for 2007.

"I've really enjoyed the series, just playing again," said 23-year-old Anderson. "I've gone away before and not played a Test match, so I reckon I've learned from the previous tours and I think I managed to cope a little bit better this time."

His one-day exploits - seven wickets in four matches - are a start at least on the road back for Anderson.

"The last couple of wickets have been a bit easier to bowl on. It swung as well in this match, which helped," he said.

"In the last couple of games, my rhythm has been pretty good.

"I've played five games in quite a long period of time, so I've probably not quite got the rhythm I had back then when I was bowling a lot at this level. But I'm getting there.

"You can bowl as much as you want in the nets, but there's nothing that actually compares to bowling in a game. That match practice is just so valuable."

And England's stand-in skipper Marcus Trescothick has told Anderson that he still has a future at both one-day and Test level.

He said: "There is an opportunity there for a few people to break through."

England have been overtaken by India in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.

Ratings: 1 Australia 128; 2 India 115; 3 England 113; 4 Pakistan 103; 5 South Africa 100; 6 New Zealand 100; 7 Sri Lanka 96, 8 West Indies 73; 9 Zimbabwe 27; 10 Bangladesh 5.

Tweet