Sir James Anderson deserved a better farewell than a tap on the shoulder on a drizzly Monday morning in October after more than 25 years of service to Lancashire.

Yes he is 44, the clock catches up with everyone and Anderson’s year as captain was woeful. But his 50 wickets at 17 from 11 games would have made a bowler 20 years younger proud and he was Lancashire’s championship player of the summer.

An outfit that just about avoided finishing bottom of the second division and had given the impression in recent years it would rather be an events space or car park for Manchester United than a cricket club, lost a little bit more of its soul with Anderson’s exit. It was announced at a meeting at Old Trafford at the start of this week.

New chief executive Richard Kenyon and recently appointed director of cricket Paul Farbrace – who does not take over officially until November 1 – must drive the club forward with their own vision, but it is a pretty bold step to start by slaying an English and Lancashire cricketing legend.

Farbrace is not afraid to make big decisions and picking the club up at such a low ebb gives him the authority to instigate major changes. Removing Anderson sends a message to the rest that nobody is safe, and that this is a new era, but it will go down badly with many of Lancashire’s already disaffected members who have seen the team slide and the club ripped apart by infighting.

Farbrace is vastly experienced and a good communicator with supporters capable of explaining his decisions clearly, and this one will need some sweet talking to win them round.

Anderson will feel angry and let down again. He has never fully recovered from losing his England career and will be convinced he could carry on for county and country. His last match at Canterbury in September featured three wickets in the first 10 overs with the new ball; his final wicket No 4 Tawanda Muyeye a classic inswinger that beat the drive and was followed up with a stare that said it all after the young lad had driven Anderson a couple of times down the ground.

The control of line and length, mastery of wobble seam and swing as well as the competitive instinct was hot to the end. It was always a worry with Anderson that his career would come crashing down with some young tyro taking him apart as the zip deserted him and the legend faded.

Injury curtailed his 2025 season, but he bowled more than double the number of overs in 2026, and only six other bowlers took more wickets than him in the second division as Anderson’s determination to constantly improve never changed.

There was merit behind ending his England career. He had averaged 82 in the previous Ashes and looked leggy at Test level; teams were content to see him off. Had he lasted a year or two longer he would have been in just the right place to exploit the current fad for wobble seam with keepers standing up. It was no coincidence the Aussies produced seaming tracks for the last Ashes with Anderson safely retired.

Instead England became fixated on pace and Anderson moved into the backroom team as soon as he retired. It was too early for him and the players. The bowlers he was coaching sensed that he felt he could still do it better than them. He may have had a point.

He leaves behind a Lancashire club in crisis. They endured one of their worst summers after finishing second from bottom of the championship and with a review ongoing into their cricket operations. Daniel Gidney, the chief executive, left at the end of the season. Director of cricket Mark Chilton was sacked in September. But 2026 was not a one-off. The club have been sinking for a while. Dale Benkenstein stood down as head coach a month into the 2025 season and Keaton Jennings also lost his job around then as red-ball captain, Anderson stepping in to fill the void.

Now he has gone, a victim of renewal rather than a loss of skill and ability and it should be some comfort to know he was still good enough. Just ask Muyeye and his two other Kent victims that day.