An odd time to dump Anderson and Broad

England’s selectors have initiated a reset on Joe Root’s leadership by omitting its two greatest bowlers who have not always danced to the captain’s tune.

England’s two greatest wicket-takers James Anderson and Stuart Broad walk-off the SCG last month after saving the fourth Test. Both players have paid the price for England’s Ashes failures Picture: Getty Images

The selection panel for the forthcoming three-Test tour of West Indies should have had a narrow remit. In the absence of a permanent director of cricket or permanent head coach, both of which will be appointed after the tour, the only important thing was the here and now. They needed to bear in mind Albert Einstein who, when asked about the future, said he never thought about it because it comes soon enough.

For too long, England have been obsessed with the future. They worried about the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, for example, so far in advance that it jeopardised the match in front of them. Players have been continually rested for matches and series to come, to the extent that 26 players were used in Tests last year. Thinking of the future constantly, the Ashes was described as a marathon, not a sprint, but by the time the team got into gear, the series was over.

Given the absence of a long-term remit, and the absolute necessity of starting to win some matches again to lift the team from the bottom of the World Test Championship table, it seems an odd moment to move on from James Anderson and Stuart Broad, England’s celebrated opening pair. On performance alone, they do not deserve to be dropped.

Age may count against them – Anderson is 39 and Broad is 35 – but their performances in the past two years have been that of much younger men.

Since the start of 2020, Anderson has played 19 Tests and taken 63 wickets at an average of a shade over 22; Broad has played two fewer games and taken two fewer wickets at a similar average. In Australia, Anderson topped the bowling averages and has been superb away from home lately.

Broad was the second highest wicket-taker in the Ashes after Mark Wood, taking a five-for at Sydney, two Tests ago. He has taken 11 wickets in his last two Tests. Neither were criticised for their fitness levels by the England bowling coach.

That said, after a 4-0 drubbing in the Ashes and after a calendar year in which the Test team lost a record nine matches and after signs of clear decline in collective performance, no one can really complain about getting dropped. On the back of the sacking of three members of the backroom staff, the players have been held accountable, too, with wholesale changes from the Ashes.

Even so, this looks a less strong squad on paper; an underwhelming squad, for sure, even with some new faces.

Legitimately, these two bowlers might also ponder failings elsewhere. They might wonder about the retention of Jack Leach (six wickets at 53 in the Ashes), who clearly fails to retain the captain’s faith from match to match; they might wonder about Ollie Pope’s retention after a poor series (67 runs at an average of 11 in the Ashes); they might wonder about Ollie Robinson, roundly criticised by the bowling coach for his levels of fitness, or Chris Woakes (six wickets at 55 in the Ashes), all of whom have been retained.

Other omissions are certainly more understandable. Jos Buttler’s finger has barely recovered from the fracture suffered in Sydney and his performances in the Ashes were substandard with bat and gloves. Ben Foakes will get his opportunity at last. Dawid Malan’s experience made him a good pick for Australia, but he failed to build on some promising signs early in the series. Rory Burns did little at the top of the order and Haseeb Hameed looked out of his depth.

Whatever the argument about Broad and Anderson, their omission is a seismic moment for the England Test team. Since the Wellington Test of the New Zealand tour of 2008 (Broad’s second Test), nearly a decade and a half ago, when the old guard of Matthew Hoggard and Stephen Harmison gave way and Anderson and Broad began to take on the mantle of leading the attack, there have only been a handful of occasions when neither have appeared in the team.

There was the dead rubber Test at Edgbaston in 2012 against West Indies; there was a Test in Mirpur, Bangladesh, in 2016, and then, of course, the Gabba at the start of the Ashes, when a rain-interrupted preparation put paid to their chances of getting at Australia’s batsmen on a green top. In that time, between Wellington and Hobart, England have played 177 Tests and one of them has appeared in all but three, England having benefited from the good fortune that their injuries (never serious in any case) have rarely coincided.

Although none of those involved in selecting the squad – Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and James Taylor – have a remit beyond the Caribbean, this selection may be seen as the start of a chance to reset not so much England’s red-ball cricket, as the phrase goes, but Joe Root’s captaincy, which, they hope, will be on firmer ground without two headstrong bowlers who have not always danced to his tune. It is to be hoped Root provides more direction than of late.

The new faces to be given that direction include the uncapped Lancashire pair of Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson, who, having learned their craft on good cricket pitches at Emirates Old Trafford, will at least be ready for the rigours of bowling in the Caribbean. Pace and wrist spin is not a bad call for the type of cricket that is usually played there. Whether Matthew Fisher, the 24-year-old Yorkshire seamer who is included for the first time, is sharp enough remains to be seen. Alex Lees, the 28-year-old opener from Durham, averages 34 in first-class cricket after a decade-long career and gets his chance because of a dearth of alternatives. For all that a new broom has swept in, with eight players from the Ashes getting dumped, it is hard to move away from Broad and Anderson as the main storyline. While positioning himself for a life beyond the dressing room, through various media commitments, Anderson had long stated his desire to keep going into his 40s, as long as fitness and form permitted. He had used Tom Brady, the NFL quarterback, who played for 22 seasons in the top flight before recently retiring aged 44, as inspiration.

Broad has always acknowledged the debt he owes to Anderson’s example, and has been equally determined to keep retirement at bay. He, too, has a place within the media when that time comes. Between them they have played 321 Tests and taken 1177 wickets, setting standards of longevity and records that few thought possible when they began their association.

Whether the end beckons or not – and Strauss was keen to emphasise their future depends on who comes into the coaching and selection positions after the Caribbean – what champions they have been.