England coach Andy Flower has hailed the all-round contribution of James Anderson in the Ashes series so far.

The Lancashire bowler has unsettled the Australian batsmen with his variable swing and is the leading English wicket-taker in the series to date with 12 with England leading the series 1-0 heading into the final two Tests at Headingley and The Oval.

Flower, who could not give an update on Andrew Flintoff's fitness, told Sky Sports News: "Jimmy has become more confident about what he does. He has had injury concerns and injuries can make us all feel a little weak.

"But he is strong now, he has conditioned his body well, he's also become stronger mentally and has got a better understanding of himself and his bowling."

Anderson also took a great catch to remove Marcus North for 96 at Edgbaston yesterday, and he has made some useful contributions with the bat, in particular his dogged efforts alongside fellow tail-ender Monty Panesar to force a draw in the first Test in Cardiff.

"He's a superb all-round sportsman. That catch - and taken as easily as he did it, is an indication of his talent," Flower added.

"He has taken his batting to a different level. He is not an all-rounder by any stretch of the imagination but what he has done is he has approached his batting with the seriousness with which it deserves to be approached.

"His batting partner is Alastair Cook, they're good mates and 'Cookie' has done some good work with him. He plays an important role for us as nightwatchman, his job is to hang around the next morning.

"He has taken on that responsibility and it takes guts to do that."