James Anderson faces career decision as Lancashire will not offer him new deal

Anderson continued to play for Lancashire when England moved on from him in July 2024 and last year he took the captaincy of his boyhood club, where he has an end named after him at Old Trafford.

While he claimed 50 wickets in just 11 County Championship matches at an average of 17.68, the Red Rose finished second bottom of Division Two when they were strong favourites for promotion.

Lancashire have recently appointed Richard Kenyon as chief executive and Paul Farbrace as director of cricket to lead the rebuild and the Press Association understands Anderson is not a part of their plan.

As first reported by the Times, it is understood Anderson is set to end a long association with Lancashire that began 25 years ago, leaving his future up in the air. Lancashire declined to comment.

Lancashire’s decision echoes the end of his England career two years ago, when he was told by director of cricket Rob Key, head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes he was surplus to requirements.

Anderson was given one valedictory appearance – his 188th Test – against the West Indies at Lord’s and finished his international career with 704 wickets, a record for a non-spinner.

Only Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia’s Shane Warne have taken more but while Anderson had a consultancy coaching role with England, he stood down to resume playing for Lancashire.

Anderson signed a one-year deal to play the 2026 season and was subsequently appointed Lancashire’s championship captain, having taken charge on an interim basis midway through the previous season.

He gave no indication he was thinking of calling time on his career after his impressive wickets haul for a struggling club, with only six bowlers taking more than him in the division.

Of Anderson’s 1,193 first-class wickets, a total of 443 have been for Lancashire, alongside 83 List A wickets and 50 T20 wickets.