James Anderson and Stuart Broad were ignored for the upcoming West Indies tour.
The England cricket team’s interim managing director, Sir Andrew Strauss, has stressed that the veteran fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad will be considered for selection again in the English summer after they were dropped for the upcoming West Indies Test tour.
Anderson and Broad, England's all-time leading Test wicket-takers with 1,177 scalps between them, were dropped from the England squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against the West Indies, as they were seeking a new approach following their Ashes humiliation in Australia.
Strauss told Sky Sports: “This is the start of a new cycle, so it's an opportunity for us to get some new faces in the team and maybe to ask some of the players that are in the team to play more significant leadership roles.”
He continued, “We feel like it's an opportunity for us to leave both Broad and Anderson out for the time being... so the new England coach, Paul Collingwood, and director will have more information to base their selection decisions this summer. But I fully expect that both Broad and Anderson to be in that selection conversation at the start of this summer.”
Meanwhile, the former England captain also hoped that Anderson and Broad would understand the rationale behind leaving them out of the upcoming West Indies series.
Strauss concluded, “No one is saying this is the end of the road for either of them. I suppose there is a danger (they might see it as a signal to end their career) but I was trying to be as clear as I can with them. Their job right at the moment is to get themselves fired up and ready to go at the start of the international summer in June.”
The decision wasn’t welcomed by many, especially former England batsman Mark Ramprakash, who said that two great bowlers, Anderson and Broad, may have paid the price for the Ashes series defeat.
However, former England captain Michael Vaughan was happy with the selection and lauded Strauss for doing "smart" work in order to build a new culture in the dressing room.
(With Reuters Inputs)