Joe Root exclaims James Anderson and Stuart Broad are in a state of anger following their exclusion from England Test team for WI tour.
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Ever since their 0-4 drubbing by Australia during the Ashes 2021-22 series, the England and Wales Cricket board (ECB) have come up with some strict measures in quest of a revamp.
It all began with the axing of the board’s director of Cricket Ashley Giles, and was followed by the removals of the on fire head coach Chris Silverwood and assistant coach Graham Thorpe from their respective posts.
ECB, however, came under fire yet again when they dropped their veteran pacers in the longest format- James Anderson and Stuart Broad from the 16-member squad set play against the West Indies in a 3-match Test series from March 8.
Andrew Strauss, England’s newly appointed interim director of Cricket, had stated, “In respect of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, I want to emphasize this does not mean the end for them as England players. We feel that it is important to look at some exciting new bowling potential and give some added responsibility to other players who have featured previously”.
“No one doubts the quality and experience that James and Stuart bring to the England set-up. It will be up to the new managing director and permanent head coach to decide on whether they will be involved this summer and beyond,” he further added.
Joe Root exclaims James Anderson and Stuart Broad are disappointed and angry
England Test skipper Joe Root, who received ECB’s backing despite the Ashes debacle, exclaimed that the experienced fast bowling duo are angry and disappointment post their selection snub, but has reiterated Strauss’ initial stance that it is not the end of their careers despite the age catching up.
“I have spoken to both Stuart and Jimmy. They are obviously disappointed and angry. Stu (Stuart Broad) in particular has voiced that quite publicly and you would expect that. I have got a huge amount of respect for all of them but at no point has no-one said this is the end for them,” remarked Root.
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Root then went on to state that the duo might return for the team’s this summer’s home Tests against the likes of New Zealand, India, and South Africa.
“The fact they are not there is more that there are different roles people have to fill. They have taken the new ball for such a long period of time in English cricket, they have been leaders of the attack an they’ve done an extremely good job and I have a lot of respect for that. If we come away from this tour as victors and also gained a lot of knowledge on a number of other players and then there’s Jimmy and Broad to add back into things, we’re in a really strong position,” Root remarked.
England will play the first of the 3-match Test series against the West Indies on March 8 in Antigua. They lost the 5-match T20I series 2-3 against them the previous month.
