James Anderson talks ahead of the third Test match between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham, which starts on August 3rd.

SOUNDBITE: (English) James Anderson, England pace bowler:

"Yeah it was my birthday on Saturday so I celebrated that with my family, and just had a bit of time off. A bit of down time which is good."

SOUNDBITE: (English) James Anderson, England pace bowler:

"Yeah really positive the way we came out of that Old Trafford Test. Obviously unfortunate that we lost Ben Stokes in that game to injury but all in all just a really strong team performance."

SOUNDBITE: (English) James Anderson, England pace bowler - On all-rounder Ben Stokes

"Yeah he is a big loss. He just adds that balance to the team. Coming in at six and being able to bowl plenty of overs does add that healthy balance to the side. But we've played without him before and coped without him before so we are going to have to do that this week. Hopefully he will be well on the road back to the recovery and maybe back for the Oval."

SOUNDBITE: (English) James Anderson, England pace bowler (On conditions at Edgbaston):

"In the past here we've had success with our 'seamers' so I think that's the way we might head if the pitch is similar and the conditions are similar. Obviously there is rain around the next couple of days so you'd have to think that seam bowlers will play a big part."

SOUNDBITE: (English) James Anderson, England pace bowler:

"Um well we know how strong they are. We saw at Lords that they are a very strong unit, in both batting and bowling. We got the better of them at Old Trafford, but we would expect a performance from them like we saw at Lords. The series is level, it's all to play for, and we know that they are going to come hard at us. We've got to be on our toes, and be in as good form as we were at Old Trafford."