England bowler Jimmy Anderson admitted he didn’t really enjoy leading Lancashire as the Red Rose county were held to a draw by Essex, in the sides’ opening County Championship First Division game of the season.

England bowler Jimmy Anderson admitted he didn’t really enjoy leading Lancashire as the Red Rose county were held to a draw by Essex, in the sides’ opening County Championship First Division game of the season.

The England paceman led the team in the absence of the injured Steven Croft, and will miss his county’s next games, against Surrey, at Old Trafford.

However, he managed to get through the game at Chelmsford following a shoulder injury, and said: “It’s all good. I’m happy the amount I’ve bowled.

“I’ve got through a lot of overs and the ball came out nicely. I was a bit rusty in parts but the speed felt good so I’m happy. I’ll be back for the Somerset game.”

As for leading the team in the absence of Croft, Anderson, who will be expected to be in the England squad for the summer home Tests against West Indies and South Africa, added: “Did I enjoy it? Not really, no. If we’d have won the game I’d have said yes.

“Of course, I love doing it but it’s difficult when you’re trying to bowl a side out on a flat wicket. You’re always thinking if you can do something different.

“I was asking for advice all the time from the senior players in our team.

“But I’m not sure I’m cut out for it because I feel knackered now bowling and trying to captain as well – it’s pretty tough.”

Dan Lawrence batted for seven hours and seven minutes for his match-saving 141 not out for Essex, an innings that impressed Anderson,

“He played well. He played exactly as you should do on that pitch – he played straight and got away with an edge early on in his innings on nought but that can happen and he made the most of it,” Anderson added.

“He’s clearly got a good temperament to bat the way he did today and steer his team home to the draw. As a 19-year-old he’s still got a long way to go.

“The first couple of days there was a bit in the pitch but it just got dried out and slower and slower as the game went on so it was pretty difficult today to try and winkle out eight wickets.

“It’s frustrating but all credit to Essex, I thought they played brilliantly today.

“We bowled as well as we could to try to win the game but couldn’t quite get over the line.”