Broad in awe of swing star Anderson

James Anderson has proven himself the scourge of the world's best batsmen - here accounting for Ramnaresh Sarwan

Stuart Broad has hailed England team-mate James Anderson as “the best swing bowler in the world” ahead of the first Ashes Test which starts in Cardiff tomorrow.

Broad believes that reverse or conventional swing will have a major part to play in the five-game series.

Australia’s Brett Lee demonstrated his skills in that department against the England Lions but he has been ruled out of the opener, at least, through a side injury.

But Broad has immense faith in Anderson whom he believes has taken his game to another level during the past 12 months.

The Nottinghamshire all-rounder said: “I think swing is going to be a huge part, whether it is reverse or conventional swing.

“That is something we will be working on. Cardiff has quite a lush outfield so it might not reverse as much as we hope. Hopefully it will swing conventionally.

“But we have the best swing bowler in the world in Jimmy Anderson and we are looking forward to getting going and putting our skills into practice.”

Broad added: “Jimmy has matured as a bowler hugely. He is probably arriving at his peak as a bowler. He has learnt a lot from his years in international cricket.

“For the past year he has been fantastic and a pleasure to bowl with. I am learning a lot from him every time I train and bowl with him.

“It is certainly something that is good for the England team. He is still young. It is fantastic that we have a young attack and that can only be good for English cricket and there seems to be a lot of depth in that attack at the moment.”