England have left out veteran fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the upcoming series against West Indies. This will be England’s first series after the horrendous 0-4 defeat in the Ashes.
The Ashes debacle has already seen Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood and Graham Thorpe lose their jobs as part of the support staff and now England’s two leading wicket-takers in Test cricket have been dumped by a selection panel comprising Strauss, Paul Collingwood, head coach for the Caribbean tour, and James Taylor, a selector.
England have also dropped Dawid Malan, Dom Bess, Sam Billings, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler and Haseeb Hameed. Durham’s opening batter Alex Lees and Yorkshire fast-bowler Matthew Fisher have earned first call-ups while the uncapped Lancashire duo of Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson are also included. Ben Foakes has been recalled and will be the first choice wicket-keeper.
We've named our squad of 16 for our three-match Test tour of the Caribbean 🏏
🏝 #WIvENG 🏴
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 8, 2022
However, Andrew Strauss has asserted that this is certainly not the end for James Anderson and Stuart Broad in English colours while adding that they need to explore fresh options. The former England captain said:
“We feel that it is important to look at some exciting new bowling potential and give some added responsibility to other players who have featured previously. No one doubts the quality and experience that James and Stuart bring to the England set-up. It will be up to the new managing director and permanent head coach to decide on whether they will be involved this summer and beyond.
Strauss added:
“This selection of this squad is the start of a process and a journey to get England Test cricket back to where it needs to be, and the hard work starts now.”
England squad: Joe Root (C), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Matthew Fischer, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood