My Dad and his part in rise of the Burnley boy

All hail James Anderson, young man around town, fast bowler extraordinaire, England's man of the moment. Four wickets against Pakistan continued the wonderful impression he has made ever since he set foot in the England side in Australia this winter.

For a 20-year-old fast bowler who could barely claim a few months ago to be a household name even in his native Lancashire, life could not be going more swimmingly. It was a relentless display of fast, swing bowling. He deserved every hosannah from the England supporters. So what better time to reveal cricket's best-kept secret: it was my Dad that discovered him.

Well, maybe that is going a little too far. I don't want a lynch mob of Lancashire coaches knocking on my hotel door. But we've all been in exuberant mood after our victory against Pakistan and I've been laughing with Nasser Hussain about the time he came to my room during the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in October despairing where he could find another quick bowler.

My old man, Jimmy, was in the room and he could barely conceal his excitement. "Anderson's the lad," he said. "Anderson's the lad," (he has a habit of saying everything twice). He had only seen him once or twice. But Nasser looked at him a little quizzically, and it has now become Irani folklore that from that moment a career was born.

I remember getting a bit carried away and offering Nass a few insights of my own - after all, I am his county captain, I'm entitled. "You can't talk to Nasser like that, he's England captain," said my Dad. And so I shut up. It was my biggest telling off since I first came in late from the pub.

I'm not sure if the old man has any opinions about the 100mph ball hurled down by Shoaib Akhtar to Nick Knight during our innings in Cape Town, but I know that Nick felt he had never faced anything as quick through the air.

There was a roar of excitement as the speed gun registered his achievement, and Shoaib brandished two fingers to the crowd. He was signalling that he had now broken the 100mph barrier twice, but at first we misunderstood it in the England dressing room. "Bloody hell," someone said. "he's going to bowl the 200mph ball now."

Fortunately, Shoaib disappeared off the bat just as quickly. Had he managed swing or seam, we might have been struggling. But he went for 63 from nine overs, which just goes to show that speed isn't everything.

There have been suggestions that to combat quick bowling laser surgery for batsmen will become the norm. Over the past few years, Essex have carried out a range of optical tests to check the speed of our reactions.

We were tested by the same lady who told Manchester United that playing in an all-grey away strip was inadvisable because it took the player in possession longer to spot his team-mates. It is a good job they never played in grey at Old Trafford because, with the state of the weather up there, the entire side would have gone missing.

The company that won the speed-gun contract at this World Cup has gained a good reputation at professional tennis events, so we'll overlook the fact that one of Wasim Akram's slower balls was measured at something approaching the speed of light. There are one or two blips, but as professionals we are treating speed-gun findings with growing respect.

Having missed out on the final XI against Pakistan, I spent a lot of time watching Wasim, one of the all-time great fast bowlers, and I know from the time I spent with him at Lancashire, a thoroughly top bloke as well.

He bowled one of the best new-ball spells in the World Cup, but I could see he was wired, by his aggression towards his team-mates in the field. Wasim is a diabetic and he offers a great example to all diabetic youngsters wanting to play sport.

But I've seen that aggressive mood at Lancashire before and I wondered if his insulin levels were a bit low. On balance, I decided it was not the best time to wander on to the field and ask him.