James Anderson and Stuart Broad are reportedly set to be recalled by England this summer, having been axed for the recent 1-0 series defeat to the West Indies.
Ben Stokes, who is set to be named England's new Test captain, is said to be keen for the pair to return. New Managing Director of Men's Cricket Rob Key travelled up to Durham on Tuesday for a face to face meeting with Stokes and offered him the job.
Stokes is understood to have accepted the role and is set to take over from his close friend Joe Root, who relinquished the captaincy earlier this month. And according to a report from the Telegraph, the future of Anderson and Broad formed part of his discussions with Key.
The report states that Stokes is 'adamant he wants Broad and Anderson back' and that he is 'keen for them to play a full role again this summer'.
Anderson recently played his first game since the Ashes, taking match figures of 2-55 in Lancashire's innings victory over Gloucestershire. Broad, meanwhile, is yet to feature for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship this season but has been named in the squad for their upcoming game against Worcestershire.
Speaking earlier this month, Anderson admitted: "That first Test is in our minds. Being centrally contracted, that is how we should be thinking.
"It is trying to find a balance of playing enough but not being overworked before that first Test. If I think of how I build up to a Test series, I want to be in as good form as possible going into that series.
"The best way of doing that is performing for Lancashire, trying to win games of cricket. That's been my mindset forever really: performing as well as I possibly can here and hopefully those performances will lead to a call-up and if not then at least we will get off to a good start to the season."
England's first Test of the summer will see them take on World Test Champions New Zealand at Lord's on June 2.
