ENGLAND'S defeat against Australia in the World Cup, and James Anderson's part in it, have left me wondering just what Nasser Hussain was thinking of.

The game was tight with England looking for two wickets, but with not too many runs to play with and it was James who was chosen to bowl the next to last over.

We were at a stage where Andy Caddick could still bowl, he had taken four wickets pretty cheaply and so should have been confident, and Andy Flintoff had sent down eight very economic overs, but yet Hussain turned to Anderson.

The lad is not just inexperienced at this level but at just about every level of professional cricket and it was hard on him.

Having bowled in that sort of situation I know that you have to have a gameplan for the over. If I bowl the first in one manner and the batsman reacts in a certain way that could dictate how you bowl the rest of the over.

And to be honest adopting that kind of gameplan only comes with experience.

I am sure that the experience will help Anderson in his game in the long run, but it put him under a lot of pressure in the short term.

The lad will probably be blaming himself right now that he cost us the game and for the fact that England may not reach the Super Six, but it is not his fault - it was an unfair decision.

As things stand I don't think that we will miss the Super Sixes, but everything depended on Pakistan's performance against Zimbabwe today.

Predicting any Pakistan match has proven very difficult over the past few years - I don't think you can really describe them as having been a proper team ever since Imran Khan packed in.

The dressing room politics always seem to upset Pakistan and it must be even worse now that sometimes you can have a team that has three former skippers in there who will be wanting to chip in their opinion.

Because of the in-fighting you never know which Pakistan will turn up, they chop and change the side and players also can prove either devastating or disasters.

Top batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq is a case in point because he is a good player, but in this World Cup he has simply just not scored.

Then you will get someone like Shahid Afridi who can bat well, yet they stick him down in seven or eight in the order.

And Shoaib Akhtar has got all wrapped up with speed records.

Ever since Aussie Brett Lee broke 100mph, Shoaib seems to be obsessed with trying hit that mark as many times as he can and it does not help the side.

But I feel England will benefit as Pakistan are good enough to win the game, but I can't see them running away with it.

Clubs will turn to youngsters

RISHTON have opted to try a young professional in New Zealand all-rounder Robert Nicol this season and it shows that all Lancashire League clubs are having to watch the pennies these days.

The Blackburn Road club have been known for their big name signings ever since they brought in Viv Richards, but it is a gamble even with big names.

They got their fingers burnt last season with Paul Adams, who was a waste of time, and when they brought in Jason Gillespie he arrived injured and then vanished for some one-day tournament back home and basically used his time here as a training session.

Rishton have ploughed a lot into their professionals, but now they have gone for a youngster - which is again a gamble.

At least with a young lad who is learning the game he will gain something from the experience, whether he is a success for the club or not.