James Anderson's professional career may finally have reached its end, two years after he was ushered into international retirement by England's management.
Anderson, 44, has continued to play for Lancashire, his boyhood club, since his final Test match in July 2024, and has captained them in the County Championship since midway through the 2025 season. He took 50 wickets at 17.68 this summer, but could not prevent Lancashire's worst-ever Championship finish as they avoided the wooden spoon by a single spot.
Cricinfo has learned that, as first reported by the Times on Wednesday, Anderson was informed this week by senior Lancashire officials that he will not be offered a new contract for next season. The club declined to comment, and it is unclear at this stage whether Anderson will attempt to continue his career with another county or decide that he has reached the end of the road.
It is understood Anderson had every intention of continuing his Lancashire career into 2027 before this latest development.
Richard Kenyon, Lancashire's new chief executive, launched a wide-ranging review of the club's cricketing operations when he took over from Daniel Gidney this month. He has already appointed Paul Farbrace as director of cricket after Mark Chilton was relieved of his duties, while further change could follow within the coaching set-up.
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Anderson was encouraged to call time on his international career by England's management - Rob Key, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes - after their tour to India in early 2024. He made one final appearance against West Indies at Lord's at the start of that summer, and ended his career with 704 Test wickets at an average of 26.45.
He spent the rest of 2024-25 working with England as a bowling coach, but signed an initial one-year contract with Lancashire and declared his intention to play on the franchise circuit. He was limited to six Championship games in 2025 by injuries, though did feature in both the T20 Blast and the Hundred.
Anderson signed a contract extension last November and was named captain for 2026, having twice deputised the previous summer. He had to manage a calf injury again this year but managed to play in 11 out of 14 possible Championship matches and finished the season as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Division Two.
Lancashire's potential options to replace Anderson as captain include Josh Bohannon, who was their official vice-captain this season but struggled with the bat; allrounder George Balderson, who led them in the Metro Bank Cup and in the final Championship game of the season; and former club captain - and current T20 captain - Keaton Jennings.