An iconic duo for England’s cricket team, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson. The two have 321 test caps together and share a massive 1177 test wickets alone amongst them, yet suddenly both now find themselves out of the England test squad for the series against the West Indies.

 

Whilst the two are 35 and 39 years old, neither have shown signs of a dip in form. It was clear after the Ashes series in Australia that England’s problems were much more on the batting side than the bowling. Whrn asked about his omission from the squad, Broad stated “I'm waking up more confused, and angrier each day... I could take being dropped if my standards slipped but I feel gutted that all I've had is a five-minute phone call and nothing else.”

 

Whilst captain Joe Root was keen to insist the omission was by no  means the end for the pair, it is hard to see where the pair come back in, given neither were ever performing poorly in an England shirt. Furthermore, when it comes to seamers the current squad is hardly at a high level in itself, with two uncapped players in Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Fisher preferred to the legendary duo, showing how low down the pecking order they have fallen, the reason for that unknown, and with Jofra Archer finally expected back in the summer, they may only find themselves further and further neglected from the squad.

 

It is a decision which has sparked a lot of debate on social media, and one which puts a lot of pressure on England to win the series, in order to prove they didn’t make a big mistake.