Anderson reveals ‘sadness and shock’ at Lancashire exit as he ponders cricket future

England great talks for first time since surprise dismissal

Bowler optimistic about future within or outside sport

Jimmy Anderson has revealed the “sadness and shock” he felt at his surprise Lancashire dismissal while he weighs up whether his future involves playing cricket or “something different”.

Speaking for the first time since being told he will not have his county contract renewed, the England great told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast that the decision even made him question whether there is “something fundamentally wrong with me as a person”.

The 44-year-old, his country’s leading wicket-taker, had played for Lancashire for 26 years since making his debut at the turn of the century and was let go despite taking 50 wickets, while captaining the side, at an average of 17 amid their struggles in Division Two of the County Championship this year.

“I went in for what I thought was a conversation about how the team moves forward,” Anderson said on the podcast. “It wasn’t a great year for the team. Being captain I thought it was chat about that. A couple of minutes in I realised it wasn’t a conversation. I was being told they thought the best way for the team to move forward was without me.

“I was quite shocked. It was quite brief.”

England also chose to drop Anderson in similar circumstances in 2024 as they sought to build a fresh attack for the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia.

“All of the way through the season myself and the head coach were like: ‘Is it something we are doing? Could we be doing more to help the team?’” Anderson added. “I finished the season thinking: ‘Was it something I did? Was I doing something wrong?’ – and then I get this news – now I am thinking that even more.

“I’m thinking: ‘This is happening again – is there something fundamentally wrong with me as a person?’ Your head just races.

“I wanted to see my career out with Lancs. I don’t know if my career is done, we will have to wait and see, but it would be nice at some point if someone would let me retire.”

The seamer, meanwhile, remains optimistic about a future within or outside the sport. He said: “I’m starting to get excited about the future, whether it’s something different or playing cricket again. It’s exciting. There are exciting challenges ahead. I have to attack it like that and not dwell too much on how or why it finished at Lancs.

“I am sad the way it ended with the club I supported as a kid but now I have thought about it I am quite excited for the future. I am always going to support Lancashire.”