Despite being 1-0 down in the ongoing three-Test series against West Indies, England decided to rest veteran pacer James Anderson for the second Test at Old Trafford, starting July 16.

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It is a decision that former skipper Nasser Hussain finds baffling as he wanted to see the seasoned campaigners Anderson and Stuart Broad being operated together in a must-win game for the hosts.

Notably, Broad was overlooked in the first Test at the Ageas Bowl last week as England went with the two out-and-out fast bowlers – Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.

Hussain feels England need to field their best 11, without getting “cute with the selection again”.

“One thing they need to do after naming a 13-man squad is not get cute with selection again,” he wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “Sometimes the current panel overcomplicate it and get too smart, but all it should come down to is picking your best 11 players. I didn’t turn up to too many matches against West Indies to find Courtney Walsh or Curtly Ambrose left out.”

“I have no hesitation in putting Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in the same company. After all, they have almost 1,100 wickets between them. Yes, if those two were past their best then move them on, but Anderson has produced some of the best numbers in his career over the last five years and Broad was England’s leading wicket-taker in the Ashes last year and in South Africa.”

“It is a unique situation this summer, with six Tests virtually back-to-back, and of course there will be a need for England to rotate. But if the big two are fit and ready to go then they should have both played at Old Trafford,” Nasser further added.

Apart from Anderson, England also rested Mark Wood for the second Test while left-arm pacer Sam Curran has been added to the squad alongside Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson, who got his maiden call-up to the senior squad.