Jimmy Anderson set to retire after Lancashire opt not to renew contract
Jimmy Anderson is expected to retire from professional cricket after Lancashire informed him on Monday at Old Trafford that his contract will not be renewed for next season. The 44-year-old had been on season-by-season deals with his boyhood club since retiring from England duty in 2024.
Lancashire have signalled a change of direction after finishing second-bottom of Division Two in this year’s County Championship and failing to progress from the group stages in both men’s white-ball competitions. Richard Kenyon has arrived from Nottinghamshire as the county’s new chief executive and Paul Farbrace has been hired from Sussex as director of cricket. The pair informed Anderson on Monday that he does not feature in their plans, as first reported by the Times.
Anderson captained Lancashire’s first team in their most recent campaign while remaining on rolling one-season contracts. He took 50 wickets at an average of 17 during that season, but those returns were not enough to prevent the club’s lowest finish in the two-division era.
If Anderson does not secure an overseas deal this winter or attract interest from another county, it appears he has played his last match of professional cricket. He would finish his career with 1,193 first-class wickets and more than 400 wickets in limited-overs cricket, and he received a knighthood 12 months ago for services to the sport.
Reports at the end of the season had suggested Anderson was unlikely to continue as Lancashire captain, although there were indications he wished to play on; that issue became dependent on decisions by new leadership after Daniel Gidney stood down as chief executive and Mark Chilton lost his role as director of cricket. The decision over Anderson was taken by Chilton’s successor, Farbrace, who was head-hunted to try to revive the ailing county.
Farbrace had been due to remain at Sussex on a part-time basis under a new arrangement triggered by their financial difficulties, but accepted the Lancashire role instead. Anderson is a product of Burnley cricket club and made his first-team debut for the Red Rose in 2001, and many members were thought to want him retained for another season.
Some 704 dismissals left him as England’s record wicket-taker and the third-highest wicket-taker in history overall; two years ago he had been ushered into retirement from the national side by Rob Key, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. Unless an overseas deal follows this winter, or a hopeful county comes calling, it appears Anderson has played his last game of professional cricket and Lancashire will move into next season under their newly appointed leadership.
Farbrace does not officially start until next month, leaving the club to begin implementing its new strategy in the short term.