James Anderson says he has "made peace" with his shock axing from England 's ongoing tour of the West Indies.
Anderson and long-time bowling partner Stuart Broad were controversially dropped following the Ashes, with England wanting to "look at some exciting new bowling potential and give some added responsibility to other players who have featured previously". The 39-year-old broke his silence last month on his BBC Tailenders podcast, admitting his "frustration and anger" at the decision.
However, Anderson now says he has "made peace with the decision" and is focussed on impressing for Lancashire when the County Championship season gets underway in April. When asked if he had found it hard watching the West Indies series, he told BBC Radio 5 Live : "Not especially.
"When you’re hearing how things are going and not being a part of this rebuild is a little bit tough. But I made peace with the decision weeks ago, it’s completely out of my control.
"What I can do now is just get myself ready for the county season and try and show people what I can do. I feel in a good place physically and mentally as well. I’m just looking forward to playing some cricket for Lancashire."
In the absence of Anderson and Broad, seamers Matthew Fisher and Saqib Mahmood have been handed their Test debuts. Mahmood is a teammate of Anderson's at Lancashire and has learned a lot from playing alongside England's all-time leading wicket-taker.
On debut in the second Test in Barbados, Mahmood picked up match figures of 4-79 and gave England slim hope of pulling off an unlikely victory when he took quick wickets to reduce West Indies from 23-1 to 39-3. The game ultimately ended with a draw but it was a good start to Mahmood's Test career and Anderson was impressed.
"It will do wonders for him, that’s an amazing return on that pitch where we saw all other seam bowlers struggle," Anderson said. "To perform like that in your first game, especially in that second innings, it did give England a little bit of a sniff.
"His chest will be out after that game. It would have been hard work for him on that pitch this week and Test cricket will only get easier as his career develops. He’s not a Jofra [Archer], he’s not a Mark Wood, he’s not a 95mph bowler. I feel like he’s going to consistently hit 85mph and be pretty accurate."
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