England bowler James Anderson played through back pain during victorious Ashes series in Australia

The time away was well-deserved, for his leadership of the Ashes attack – to which he contributed 24 wickets at 26 apiece - was exemplary. But it was not solely a sympathetic reaction from England.

They also had an inkling that they could wear out their key fast bowler if they sent him straight into a one-day series.

If anyone doubted the dangers of England’s excessive workload, they only have to look at the redoubtable Tim Bresnan, who flew out of Sydney on Monday with a torn calf muscle.

Does Anderson think he would have broken down without the opportunity to get away?

“You never know,” he replied, “but I’m sure the more tired your body gets, the more chance of getting injured there is. I think the problem I had in Perth was taken into account with a big World Cup in mind.

"I’ve had a rest and I feel refreshed so I think it’s done me the world of good.”

A tireless worker in the gym, Anderson has maintained his fitness superbly over the last four years, especially by the standards of modern English fast bowling.

Not even the boot camp that left him with a broken rib in October, courtesy of a boxing bout with fast-bowling rival Chris Tremlett, could end a sequence of unbroken availability that stretches all the way back to the last Ashes tour.

The one Test series he has sat out was during the Bangladesh tour in March, when he was given leave to rest a mysteriously sore but hardly incapacitating right knee.

Otherwise, he has stayed mercifully free of leg injuries – the fast bowler’s usual curse.

Perhaps his secret is his lightweight build, which contrasts with the lumbering physiques of more muscular speedsters like Andrew Flintoff or Ryan Harris.

Or perhaps it is his economical action, which - unlike Darren Gough’s or Zaheer Khan’s - does not involve a high leap into the crease. Instead, he is more of a torso bowler, creating pace with a big snap from the upper body and waist

The former England bowling coach, Troy Cooley, tried to remodel Anderson’s delivery stride because it was seen as biomechanically incorrect and injury-prone – especially when he looks at the floor as he lets the ball go.

But it is only since Anderson reverted to his original, fluid style that he has rediscovered his knack for swing and turned himself into one of the finest pacemen in the world.

His return will come as a huge relief to Andrew Strauss and the rest of the England team, because they have won just one of the five international games they have played since he left Australia – and that only on the final ball.

To be fair to England’s back-up seamers, both Chris Tremlett and Ajmal Shahzad have performed admirably in Anderson’s absence. It is Strauss and his fellow batsmen who have let the side down, gifting their wickets via run-outs and long-hops slapped straight to fielders.

Still, Anderson’s extra experience and nous will nevertheless give Strauss an extra option in the middle of the innings. Had he been around to extend his hoodoo over the Australian openers, he might well have interrupted Shane Watson’s inspirational innings of 161 not out in the first one-day international in Melbourne.

Now 3-0 down in the 50-over games with four to play, England are effectively out of the running for the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. But they still need to regain a little pride, if only to avoid going into the Asian World Cup in a negative frame of mind.

“I think we’ve bowled pretty well all the way through [the one-day series],” Anderson said.

“But our batting’s probably not quite clicked and we haven’t had the big individual innings you need for a good total. The guys will be looking to step up and someone get a big hundred or a couple of guys get 80s.

“On Wednesday we’re looking to turn things round. If we get beat 7-0 it won’t do our confidence any good going into a World Cup and it will mean we’re not in good form as a team.

"This game will be good for us because we’re under a lot of pressure to win it and stay in the series. Hopefully it will recreate the situations we will face in the World Cup.”

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