James Anderson leaves Lancashire after 25 years but has not retired, other counties interested

Updated Sunday 25 October 2026, 6:55pm PKT: James Anderson has confirmed he is leaving Lancashire after 25 years, but he has not retired. The club said it would not renew the contract of England's record Test wicket-taker, and Anderson, 44, said on social media that the decision was not his, AFP reported via Business Recorder.

"I've supported Lancashire since I was a kid, and so to get to play for them for 25 years was a dream come true," he wrote. "If it was up to me it wouldn't have ended like this, but I wish the players and fans all the best for the future." He had hoped to play one more season, and several counties are reported to be interested in signing him for 2027, AFP said.

What this means: Anderson is now free to join another county, which would put him in a different shirt for the first time in his professional career. England's white-ball side, meanwhile, are in Lahore for the tri-series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka (live table and results).

The first report, from Wednesday 21 October, follows.

James Anderson will not be offered a new contract by Lancashire, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker could be at the end of a 26-year career, BBC Sport reported on Wednesday 21 October 2026, following a first report in The Times. Lancashire have not commented.

A strong season, but no deal

Anderson, 44, will turn 45 next summer. He was Lancashire's full-time captain in 2026 and, at an age when most fast bowlers are long retired, took 50 County Championship wickets, a tally bettered by only six other bowlers in Division Two. He was named the club's Championship player of the year.

The team did badly around him: Lancashire finished next to bottom of Division Two, and the club is now reviewing its cricket operations under interim chair Dame Sarah Storey and new chief executive Richard Kenyon. Paul Farbrace joined as director of cricket earlier this month. BBC Sport said people close to Anderson were unaware of the decision as reports emerged.

It is not known whether he will retire or look for another county.

The numbers behind the career

• 704 Test wickets, third on the all-time list behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, and a record for a pace bowler.
• 188 Tests, the last against West Indies at Lord's in 2024, after England's coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes and director of cricket Rob Key asked him to retire from internationals.
• 991 international wickets across formats, behind only Muralitharan and Warne.
• 1,193 first-class wickets, 443 of them for Lancashire, plus 83 List A and 50 T20 wickets for the county.
• Knighted in April 2025 for services to cricket.

Why it matters here

Anderson toured Pakistan with England in 2022, the first England Test tour of the country in 17 years. England's white-ball players are back in Pakistan now for the one-day tri-series in Rawalpindi, where Pakistan beat them in the opener. A 50-wicket county season at 44 is a reminder of how long a fast bowler can last with careful workload management, a debate Pakistan's own pace attack knows well.