James Anderson reportedly aimed a dig at teammate Joe Root when asked about his tenure as England captain at a Lord's fundraiser.
Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sir Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow took part in a Q&A with presenter Mark Nicholas at the fundraiser, which was raising money for the Bob Willis Fund and the Go Well Fund.
And according to the Daily Mail , there were 'audible gasps' at Anderson's response when he was asked about his former skipper. An audience member told the outlet: "It was laugh a minute and then it wasn't.
"Broad praised Root for the positive way he has contributed since relinquishing the captaincy, then the questioner turned to Anderson and there was a gasp after he hesitated and said: 'He wasn't a great captain'."
Anderson has previously admitted that Root's time as captain made their friendship "harder".
After Root resigned following the West Indies tour that Anderson and Broad were controversially dropped for, Anderson said on Tailenders : "The deeper he has got into the captaincy the harder it's been to be as matey as we probably were."
However, Anderson also praised Root, adding: "I thanked him because I think it's not a coincidence that statistically my best years as a bowler have been under his captaincy. A lot is said about myself and Stuart under his captaincy.
"There's been a lot talked about in that respect, but for me, I think I have performed at my best under his captaincy. I thanked him as well for his support throughout the last few years.
"He's someone who's been very encouraging to me about carrying on playing. He wanted to get the most out of me as a bowler.
"He rested me at times to try and make sure I could just keep going for as long as I possibly could. So there's a lot of mutual respect there and for me he's always been a really good mate as well."
