Anderson mystified by knee injury

Manchester:

England quick James Anderson is still baffled as to the cause of his longstanding knee injury but expects to be in action again next week.

The Lancashire paceman sat out England's recently concluded tour of Bangladesh after being advised rest and rehabilitation was the best way to cure a right knee problem that had troubled him throughout the preceding tour of South Africa.

Anderson, who intends playing for Lancashire against Durham University next week ahead of the start of the English season proper, said that while the cause of his injury had still to be diagnosed, he now felt in good shape.

"The knee is good; the rehab has been going well," Anderson told Thursday's Manchester Evening News.

"I had three weeks off when I got back from South Africa and have been gradually building up from there. I started bowling a couple of weeks ago and am bowling at about three-quarters pace at the moment."

Anderson added: "I don't know exactly what the problem was. I went to see a surgeon in London, and he didn't know what it was.

"All the doctors I have seen didn't have a clue, so we just spread a bit of cortisone around where I pointed at, where the pain was, and we left it for three weeks.

"We injected it at the start of the tour of South Africa, and had three more injections on that trip," he said.

"It can be quite difficult to decipher what is a niggle and what can cause you problems - because as a bowler you are never really 100% fit. You always have a niggle or two.

"This one started as a niggle and just got worse and worse.

"The aim is to play against Durham Uni and then play it by ear. Lancashire have a few more warm-up games, but we will take it day by day and see how the knee pulls up."