Joe Root: ‘No-one says this is the end for Anderson and Broad’

England captain hopes senior pair will put themselves back in mix in early English season

While Root is not officially involved in selection meetings, he was consulted by the interim panel of Strauss, Paul Collingwood and James Taylor. He said that Anderson and Broad’s omission had been “a discussion point for a long period of time” but added that England have been “slightly too honest” regarding selection in the past and that he believes “certain things should stay in the room”.

“I’ve spoken both to Stuart and Jimmy and they’re obviously disappointed, angry, and Stuart in particular has voiced that quite publicly,” Root said in a press conference the day before England’s departure to the Caribbean ahead of the first Test in Antigua on March 8. “You’d expect that. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for both of them. It’s been made very clear: no-one is saying this is the end for them. It would be great to see Stuart and Jimmy very much in the mix at the start of the summer as well.

“At no stage has anyone said it’s the end for them. It would be great to see them starting the season and putting themselves in the mix for selection. You don’t want to look too far ahead. Ultimately, we’ve got to look after what’s right in front of us. And that’s this tour and making sure we get as much of that right as we possibly can.

“If we’re in a position where they can come back into this team, then great, that’s only going to strengthen things. A lot can happen between now and then. But no-one’s been told that it’s the end of the road.”

Speaking on his BBC podcast Tailenders, Anderson confirmed his intention to play for Lancashire in the early round of the County Championship this season, insisting that he has “one more go at digging deep” and adding: “I still love playing the game.”

“There is likely to be a new director of cricket and a new head coach in the summer so I just hope that whatever decision is made, it’s talked about in the way that it should be,” Anderson said. “Another frustration for me over the last couple of weeks is a five-minute phone call doesn’t really clear much up for you.

“I managed to get back to Burnley and spent the day playing golf and having a few drinks with my mates which I think just helps that bit. I’m praying that this isn’t the end, but if I never play for England again I know I’ve got amazing people around me to support me and that’s really important to me. I want to keep playing, I want to keep bowling and we’ll just see what happens in the future.

“I’ve got to try and focus on stuff that I can control and that’s playing cricket and showing people what I can do with a ball in my hand. [There have] been quite a few texts between myself and Broady in particular, getting some initial frustration and anger out, but I think once that was gone, now it’s really trying to look to stuff that we can affect.”

“It was obviously a difficult tour of Australia but I was happy with the way I bowled,” he said. “I thought I put in some decent performances out there. I had a few days off when I was home and then I was straight back trying to work in the gym at my fitness, trying to get my body back to where I want it to be and start bowling again, getting ready again for that West Indies tour. I felt in good shape and I still do.

“I’ve just got to look to the summer and try and show people what I can do because I still feel like I’ve got the hunger and passion to play. I feel in great shape, I just want to keep bowling. When age is spoken about, actually, I’ve got better. Since I was 35, my record’s got even better. I know that I’m not slowing down, I’m not losing anything as people often say – ‘oh, he’s lost a yard of pace’ – but I don’t feel like I’m doing that.”