Only after getting best players out do you feel you belong at the top level, says Anderson

London [UK], June 9 (ANI): He is set to be remembered as one of the best fast bowlers of this generation, but England pacer James Anderson has revealed he wasn't sure if he was good enough to play international cricket when he started off in May 2003 against Zimbabwe at the Lord's.

"I thought I wasn't good enough. I thought it was a huge step up from county cricket. I remember Nasser [Hussain] didn't have a fine leg for me and I went for quite a few runs. My first ball was a no-ball as well so there were a lot of nerves there and I did feel like this was maybe a step too far for me at that point," he said as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

"I think I cleaned up the tail in that game. Until you play against the best players in the world and you've got them out, only then do you feel like you can compete and belong there."

The senior campaigner feels the hurdles that have come in his long career has only made him stronger. "I'm proud of the fact that I've overcome little hurdles throughout my career and they've made me stronger," he said.

"The stress fracture was like hitting the re-set button I guess. I'd gone through a lot of changes in my action before that and that stress fracture was probably a Godsend. It made me go back to my old action and since then I've felt really comfortable and got more consistent. That's really helped me and makes me feel proud I got stronger from that and never looked back."

The pacer believes the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington during the 2007-08 tour was one game that deserves a special mention. That is where his partnership with Stuart Broad began.

"We both look back on that Test with great fondness," he said. "I think it was a proper starting point in our Test careers. The fact that Peter Moores, the coach at that time, showed that confidence in us, because he left out two senior bowlers who'd been extremely influential in the England side up until that point.

"He brought us in and gave us that responsibility, showed that faith in us. We still look back on that with great fondness and we've enjoyed every minute of it. Hopefully there will be a few more memories to come."

Anderson admits that his growth from a good bowler to someone who could win games did take some time and it helped after he put in strong performances against the top teams.

"It took a few years. I think it was about putting in some performances against the better sides in the world. No disrespect to Zimbabwe, but playing against teams like South Africa and Australia and India, once you put in performances against the top teams in the world, that's when you can feel like you can actually perform at that level. So it did take a few years and a few tours around the world to make me think I could actually do it," he pointed. (ANI)