Anderson and Broad axed from England Test squad for West Indies tour

Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad have been dramatically left out of England’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of the Caribbean, raising the question of whether their record-breaking international careers have come to an end.

The 4-0 Ashes defeat to Australia has already seen Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood and Graham Thorpe sacked from the management and now the casualties are understood to have spread into the dressing room before the three-Test series against West Indies that begins in Antigua on 8 March.

Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, interim director of men’s cricket and head coach respectively, and the reprieved captain, Joe Root, have been locked in talks over a touring party that is due to be named on Tuesday evening and could well mark the end of an era for a new-ball pair who have 1,177 Test wickets between them.

Though in the autumn of their careers, both Anderson, 39, and Broad, 35, are understood to have missed out despite there being a strong cricketing case to say they remain among England’s best pool of bowlers. Broad finished up as the team’s second highest wicket-taker in Australia, despite being poorly deployed.

But in a move that is reminiscent of the start of England’s white-ball reboot in 2015 – one that ultimately resulted in the World Cup win four years later – Strauss has signed off on a dual omission in the hope others flourish out of their shadows.

Whether this prompts retirement thoughts for either bowler remains to be seen; both are understood to have been told this tour is a case of exploring new options for now and that the new director of cricket and head coach – set to be appointed before the English summer – will have their own views.

Coming off the back of an Ashes series that was