Five-star Anderson puts England on top

James Anderson fulfilled his billing as the leader of England's attack by driving a master-class in swing bowling to strengthen their position in the third npower Ashes Test.

The Lancashire seamer was highlighted as one of England's main threats before the start of the series having claimed nine wickets in his previous Test against the West Indies. But that performance was put firmly in the shade on the second morning at Edgbaston when Anderson finally arrived as an Ashes performer with a five-wicket haul to dismiss Australia for a modest 263.

Determined to build on the opportunity Anderson had created, England captain Andrew Strauss hit an unbeaten 64 to guide his side to a promising 116 for two - trailing by 147 runs - by the time bad light halted play 19 overs prematurely.

But it was Anderson who was the driving force behind the stunning turnaround in fortunes with Australia starting the second day on a commanding 126 for one, only to lose seven wickets in the dramatic morning session.

While Anderson took the plaudits, it was Durham seamer Graham Onions who began England's fightback by claiming three for 13 in just 27 balls including two wickets from the first two deliveries of the day.

Australia took only 10 balls to respond with Peter Siddle tempting Alastair Cook into pushing outside off-stump and edging behind, leaving an expectant Edgbaston crowd primed for another thriller comparable to four years ago.

Unable to generate the swing that Anderson and Onions enjoyed, Australia were forced to turn to the spin of Nathan Hauritz and allowed Strauss to combine with Ravi Bopara in a 58-run stand with few alarms.

Bopara continued his struggles at number three during the series - his top score is 35 in his four previous innings - by chopping Hilfenhaus onto his stumps for 23 while Ian Bell was fortunate to survive a plumb appeal from Johnson for lbw when he progressed to 18.

Bell survived to reach an unbeaten 26 while Strauss' imperious Ashes form continued to take his tally in the series to 304 runs and guide England into their dominant position.