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Perth: England swing bowler James Anderson has declared himself back to full fitness and ready to make an impact in the Ashes after breaking a rib in a pre-tour bonding camp in Germany.
The 28-year-old claimed 1-48 from 22 overs on the first day of England's opening tour match against Western Australia at the WACA Ground on Friday, his first outing since suffering the injury.
However, Anderson bowled much more impressively than the figures suggest, having a couple of confident lbw appeals turned down and was extremely unlucky not to have WA opener Wes Robinson given out caught behind early in the day.
The right-arm seamer, who has played 52 Tests, said he had been bowling at full pace in the nets for some time.
He showed no discomfort and said he was pain-free while bowling against WA.
"To be honest, I haven't really been thinking about the ribs for a while now, since I got back into training. It's just as though it never happened.
"To break a bone in your body is a bit of a worry and I was a bit worried the first week after it happened - it was quite sore - but once I got training again and running again I didn't feel it so I was pretty confident that I'd be fine."
Anderson was pleased not only with his own form, but that of the entire English attack in restricting the home side to 242-8 before declaring.
"It went pretty well, it was a pretty tough pitch to bowl on because there's not a great deal there after the ball gets softer," he said.
"I think it's going to be a patience game over here when the ball gets old. The first 10 or 15 overs are going to be crucial with that new ball.
"Reverse-swing might play a part somewhere down the line ... on a lush outfield like this we've just got to be patient. I think we showed pretty good patience today."
Anderson sent a minor scare through the English camp when he was struck on the body after taking the crease as night-watchman late in the day, but dismissed any suggestion of injury.
