James Anderson is surprised at how the Lord’s pitch is shaping up in the first Test against South Africa but was pleased with England’s position at the close on day three.

Alastair Cook established a commanding position for England after they bowled South Africa out for 361.

Cook (59no) and Keaton Jennings both had a little good fortune in an opening stand of 80 on the way to 119 for one at stumps, giving England an overall lead of 216 despite the earlier resistance of Quinton de Kock (51) and Vernon Philander (52).

When asked how happy he was with England’s status in the match, fast bowler Anderson said: “Really pleased. As the last couple of days have shown, the pitch is wearing quite quickly.

“A few balls are keeping low and good amounts of spin as well so I think we’re really pleased to be in the position we are but we know we’ve still got a lot of hard work in the next two days to get in an even better position.”

He added: “Considering how green it was I thought it might seam around on the first morning and it did a little bit but I wouldn’t have expected it to do this and be as dry as it is and show as much turn as it has.”

The Lancashire bowler also praised new England Test captain Joe Root.

“He’s doing well. I thought he was brilliant on the field,” Anderson said. “He kept cool, kept calm, even when they built partnerships.

“I thought he rotated the bowlers really well and in particular yesterday when it was a really hot day he could have let bowlers bowl really long spells but he chopped and changed and got the best out of the bowling attack. We were really happy to keep them below 400.

“He’s trying to put his own stamp on it. He asked a bit when he needed to but generally he’s his own man.”