James Anderson said he hoped to finish his career at Lancashire after the club decided not to renew his contract for 2027. The 44-year-old pacer got the news recently and is still processing the exit. "It'd be nice, at some point, if someone will let me retire," he said.
Fast bowler James Anderson has said that he had hoped to finish his career at Lancashire and that being let go by the county reminded him of the way his England career ended. The 44-year-old, speaking on his BBC podcast Tailenders, also revealed that he has not decided whether to look for a new county or stop playing.
"I don't know what the end looks like, but obviously I wanted to see my career out with Lancs," Anderson said. "I don't know if my career's done, we'll have to wait and see, but it'd be nice, at some point, if someone will let me retire.
"I'm still sort of trying to process everything, and weigh up what the best way forward for me is, really."
Anderson captained Lancashire in the County Championship this season and took 50 wickets, but the side finished second-last in Division Two. Last month, Paul Farbrace, the club's new director of cricket, told him his contract would not be renewed for 2027. Reacting to the development, Anderson posted on Instagram that "if it was up to me it wouldn't have ended like this."
The pacer revealed that Lancashire, his club of 25 years, deciding not to offer him a contract took him by surprise. Nearly two years ago, he was told by the England management that he was not part of their plans going forward.
"I went in for what I thought was a conversation about how the team moves forward, because obviously it wasn't a great year for the team," he said. "Being captain, I thought it was sort of just a chat about that. And then a couple of minutes in, I realised it wasn't a conversation; I was just being told that they thought the best way for the team to move forward is without me. Obviously, I was quite shocked. It was quite brief and, yeah, that was it.
"Last year didn't go too well for us on the field and all the way through the season, myself and the head coach are like, 'Is it something we're doing? Could we be doing more to help the team play better?' I finished the season thinking, 'Was it something I did, but was I doing something wrong?'
"And then I get told this news and then I'm thinking that even more. I'm thinking, 'God, this is happening again. Is there something fundamentally wrong with me as a person, as a human being?' But your head just sort of races. I just didn't really know what to make of it for a good week. You're thinking, 'God, I'm never going to play cricket again.' All these sorts of things."
Anderson was recently named the co-owner and captain of Napoli Knights, one of six franchises in the inaugural Italia T10 League. He said that despite all the disappointment at Lancashire, he's "quite excited" about what the future holds for him.
"I'm starting to get excited about the future, whether it's something different or playing cricket again," he said. "It's exciting. There are exciting challenges ahead. I have to attack it like that and not dwell too much on how or why it finished at Lancs.
"I am sad the way it ended with the club I supported as a kid but now I have thought about it I am quite excited for the future. I am always going to support Lancashire."