ENGLAND legend James Anderson says he is “sad” and “shocked” by his release by Lancashire and has not decided whether to continue his career at another county.
Speaking at length on the Tailenders podcast for the first time since being told he will not have his Lancashire contract renewed, the 44-year-old said the decision made him question whether there is “something fundamentally wrong with me as a person”.
Anderson, England’s leading wicket-taker and a Lancashire legend, took 50 wickets in the County Championship and served as captain last season but he was told by Lancashire’s new hierarchy they want to build an attack for the future.
“I went in for what I thought was a conversation about how the team moves forward,” Anderson said.
“It wasn’t a great year for the team. Being captain, I thought it was a 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.”
Lancashire’s decision was made by their incoming director of cricket, Paul Farbrace, who held a meeting with Anderson and Lancashire’s new chief executive, Richard Kenyon.
Despite Anderson’s wickets, the club finished second bottom in Division Two of the County Championship.
In 2024, England also chose to move on from their record wicket-taker in similar circumstances as they attempted to refresh and build an 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 said.
“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 am thinking ‘this is happening again. Is there something fundamentally wrong with me as a person?’ Your head just sort of 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.”