James Anderson, 44, set to retire after Lancashire contract snub
England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker will not be offered a new deal by Lancashire.
· 2 min read
James Anderson, 44, has not been offered a new Lancashire contract and is expected to retire. He took 50 County Championship wickets in 2026 and remains England's record Test wicket-taker with 704 dismissals.
Key takeaways
- Anderson, 44, will not be given a new contract by Lancashire.
- He took 50 wickets in the County Championship in 2026.
- Anderson is England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker with 704 dismissals.
- He was knighted for services to cricket in April 2025.
- It is not known if he will retire or join another county.
James Anderson, 44, is set to retire from cricket after Lancashire decided not to offer him a new contract. The veteran fast bowler will turn 45 in the summer of 2027, the season for which he will not play at Old Trafford.
Lancashire season and contract decision
Anderson chose to continue playing with Lancashire after England forced him into international retirement in 2024. He captained Lancashire in the County Championship last season, but the Red Rose finished next to bottom of Division Two. Despite the team's struggles, Anderson remained in supreme form. He took 50 wickets in the County Championship in 2026, a tally bettered by only six other bowlers in Division Two, and was named Lancashire's Championship player of the year.
The county are undergoing a review of their cricket operations, led by interim chair Dame Sarah Storey and new chief executive Richard Kenyon. Paul Farbrace was appointed as Lancashire's director of cricket earlier this month. It is not known whether Anderson will retire or look to extend his 26-year professional career with another county.
Anderson first played top-level cricket as a 17-year-old for Lancashire Cricket Board in 2000, then made his Lancashire debut the following year. Overall, 443 of Anderson's 1,193 first-class wickets came for Lancashire, to go with 83 List A wickets and 50 T20 wickets for the county. In a 23-year international career, Anderson took 991 wickets across formats for England.
In 2024, Anderson became the third bowler in Test history, after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, to reach 700 wickets. He remains third on the all-time list with 704, a record for a pace bowler. Later that year, he was asked to call time on his international career by England's then hierarchy of coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes and director of cricket Rob Key. He played his 188th and final Test against West Indies at Lord's before embarking on a short spell as England's bowling consultant.
In 2025, Anderson signed a new deal with Lancashire and suggested he could play county cricket for three more seasons. In April of that year, he was knighted for services to cricket.
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