England cricket legend James Anderson is likely to bid adieu to professional cricket after a career that lasted 26 years, after it emerged that Lancashire has refused to hand him a new contract after the end of the 2026 season, as per reports in the English media.
The legendary England pacer retired from international cricket in 2024 after the Lord’s Test against West Indies but continued to play domestic cricket for Durham as well as featuring in the 2025 Hundred for Manchester Originals.
Anderson was not just leading the Manchester-based county’s pace attack but was also the captain of the side for the second half of the 2025 season as well as the entire 2026 campaign. However, Lancashire struggled and finished second-last in the second division.
Following the disappointing season, Lancashire started a rebuild and appointed d Richard Kenyon as chief executive and Paul Farbrace as director of cricket. The new management has decided against offering the 44-year-old a new contract.
The move comes despite Anderson impressing with the ball, taking 50 wickets in 11 matches in the 2026 County Championship season at an average of 17.68.
It has been reported that Anderson will not look for options elsewhere and bid adieu to the sport.
This will bring an end to a legendary career in which Anderson played 315 first-class matches since his debut for Lancashire in 2002 and took 1193 wickets. This included 704 wickets in 188 Test matches for England, which makes him the pacer with the most wickets in the longest format of the game in international cricket.
He also took 358 List A wickets since his first-ever appearance in 2000 in 261 matches, which included 269 wickets in ODI cricket. Meanwhile, he played 19 T20Is for England and took 18 wickets. Overall, he played 63 T20 matches and secured 71 dismissals.