Former England selector Angus Fraser has said that “it’s the right decision” to drop James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the upcoming Test tour of the West Indies.

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Fraser claimed 177 Test wickets in 46 Tests in the late Eighties and Nineties, and served as England selector before the reign of Ed Smith, which began after the 2017/18 Ashes. He explained who England’s need for a “different culture” could have been behind the decision to axe Broad and Anderson.

“I think it’s the right decision,” Fraser told Sky Sports. “It’s a brave call. I certainly know from my experience as a selector and working with Andrew Strauss that he’s never shied from tough decisions, but it’s difficult because they are two fantastic cricketers, two of England’s greatest cricketers of all time. But I do think if this team is to move forward, these sort of decisions have got to be made, and a different culture, different outlook is required.

“They are big characters. When they are left out, when things do happen, they’ve got newspaper columns to air their disappointments, and I think sometimes those columns put greater pressure on Joe Root and coaches over the decisions they’ve made. They are perfectly entitled to do that. I’ve got nothing against a player going out there and airing their frustrations as I would have done at times in my career. Equally, does that airing of frustrations help the captain and the coach in what they are trying to do in building and preparing a side moving forward? I think that would have had a role to play in the decision that was made.”

He also expressed his desire for England to “stick with the decisions” to move on from the pair, allowing their younger bowlers to stake a claim for a full-time place, despite interim managing director of England men’s cricket Andrew Strauss seemingly keeping the door open for a return.

“I’d like to think England will stick with the decisions they’ve made and give these youngsters and other bowlers a chance to move forward. Alright, people think the next Test is always the important one and you’ve got to win it. Well, yes it is but sometimes if that’s all you look at you get situations where you’ve got older players coming to the end of their careers together and you’ve got a huge hole you fall into.

“It could well be [the end of the road for Anderson and Broad]. And that’s tough. You look back at my career, and my last year in Test cricket I took 58 wickets at about 23 apiece and boom, that was it. It was an Ashes tour and the side moves on. These sorts of decisions are made at the end of Ashes tours. It is a four-year cycle. Cricket in Australia does give English cricket a real signal of where it’s at at one moment in time and obviously it was found wanting this winter. If England want to go to Australia in four years’ time with a side capable of winning it, they have got to start making decisions now. Those decisions might be hard on some players, but it’s tough out there and people have to make them.”

There was some pushback to his latter comment on social media, with many feeling that England have a tendency to focus on the Ashes to too great an extent, leading to diminished performances against other teams. England have won just one of their last 14 Tests, with series defeats to New Zealand and India preceding their Ashes loss.

“Personally, I think this is part of the problem,” tweeted England PD cricketer Callum Flynn. “If you just focus on winning the next series, your [sic] going to create adaptable, winning cricketers who have done it in different conditions. Not just focusing the team and its selection on what we want to do for The Ashes.”

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