‘A textbook case of dropping bowlers for batting failings’ – Anderson and Broad’s England Test axing leaves pundits stunned

England have reacted ruthlessly to their Ashes hammering by axing Stuart Broad and James Anderson, their two leading wicket-takers in Test history.

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England’s struggles in Australia were largely down to their batting, with the tourists failing to pass 300 throughout the series. By contrast, there were some positives to take with the ball, with Australia bundled out for 267 in the third Test, and 155 in the fifth.

Rest, rotation and injury restricted Broad and Anderson to three appearances apiece, but each were among England’s best bowlers. Anderson topped the averages, with eight wickets at 23.37, while only Mark Wood claimed more wickets than Broad (13 at 26.30).

The futures of both have been a hot topic for a long time, with Broad 35 years old and Anderson nearing 40. However, both have stated their desire to keep going, and each has posted strong numbers even as they have aged. The pair are also the only two England bowlers in the top 20 of the ICC Test bowling rankings.

England’s squad for the West Indies has been chosen by a makeshift selection panel, with temporary head coach Paul Collingwood joined by temporary managing director of England men’s cricket Andrew Strauss, with input from embattled captain Joe Root, vice-captain Ben Stokes, and reportedly head scout James Taylor. Jos Buttler, Rory Burns, Dawid Malan and Haseeb Hameed are the other big casualties from England’s Ashes debacle, with Dom Bess and Sam Billings also missing out.

Root has spoken of wanting a “reset” in Test cricket, similar to that undergone by the ODI team after the 2015 Cricket World Cup debacle. After that tournament, both Anderson and Broad were left out, and some pointed out, perhaps with tongue in cheek, that a similar revival could now be expected from Root’s side.

https://twitter.com/BerbaSpinCric/status/1491090134472835072

Some pointed to the longevity and continued successful returns of both Broad and Anderson as reasons that the pair should have been persisted with.

James Anderson's numbers in the overseas tours last year:

AUS: 8 wkts | 23.37 Avg
IND : 8 wkts | 15.87 Avg
SL : 6 wkts | 7.66 Avg

And the last time England toured the Caribbean in 2018-19, Anderson picked up 10 wkts at 24.50.

But yeah..sure..drop him!#WIvENG https://t.co/UwF0Q3G2gr

— Prasenjiit Dey (@CricPrasen) February 8, 2022

It wasn’t lost on many that England’s bowlers were seemingly paying the price for England’s batting failings.

Jimmy Anderson averages 23 in the Ashes and 22 since the start of 2020. He’s been dropped when there are no real signs that he’s a diminished force.

Yes, he’s 39 but this feels a textbook case of dropping bowlers for batting failings https://t.co/vT6jIidArc

— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) February 8, 2022

Dropping their best two bowlers after losing 99 wickets in Australia at 19th century batting averages. https://t.co/Qsnbnu2OTm

— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) February 8, 2022

Strauss confirmed that this doesn’t have to be the end of Broad and Anderson’s England careers, but with England having historically struggled in the Caribbean, the idea of resting them against West Indies also struck some as foolish.

Either they're binning Broad and Anderson when they're still incredible bowlers, which isn't really acceptable, or they're treating the West Indies tour as not-a-real-tour, which isn't really acceptable.

— Alex from King Cricket (@TheKingsTweets) February 8, 2022

In general, however, there was shock at what had occured.