‘Huge respect between two of us so no animosity’ – James Anderson on Joe Root

James Anderson took some satisfaction from claiming Joe Root’s wicket at the weekend but scoffed at the implication he held any bad feeling towards the former England Test captain.

Anderson and Stuart Broad are set for recalls as England name their squad for next month’s first Test against New Zealand on Wednesday, a couple of months after being jettisoned for the West Indies tour.

While Root had no vote in their controversial omissions, he was non-committal about whether he agreed with the decision to axe two championed fast bowlers with a combined 1,177 Test wickets between them.

The events of the past few months, which included Root stepping down after the Caribbean trip, made for an intriguing subplot as Yorkshire welcomed Lancashire in the LV= Insurance County Championship last week.

Root made a century in the first innings but had two of his stumps uprooted second time around by Anderson, who insisted there will be no awkward reunion as they prepare to share a dressing room again.

“We do talk, we’ve not fallen out or anything, we chatted (during the game),” said Anderson, the most prolific seamer of all-time with 640 Test wickets.

“I spoke to him before he announced that he was stepping down. There’s still a huge amount of respect between the two of us so there’s no animosity.”

Even so, was there any gratification at the manner in which he saw off Root in a match where Lancashire pushed for victory but ultimately settled for a draw?

“I’ve watched the video a few times,” added a smiling Anderson. “The thing I like about it the most is it’s a good ball. It wasn’t intended to be reverse but it’s definitely drifted in. It was wobble seam.”

Anderson admitted there were occasions when he wondered what was the cause of