OLIVER HOLT: Sir James Anderson’s ‘abhorrent’ axing by Lancashire was a soulless act of betrayal and stupidity that will shame the county for decades. It’s easy to see why they are racked with rancour and division

On the second weekend of last month, when Lancashire were secretly preparing to discard a man who is both the greatest cricketer in their history and the greatest bowler England has ever produced, the county’s chair, Dame Sarah Storey, was busy taking part in a celebrity dance competition.

Dame Sarah, Britain’s most decorated Paralympian and an athlete who has come to embody so much that is inspiring about sport, and her partner on Strictly Come Dancing, Julian Caillon, performed a tango set to the Shania Twain song That Don’t Impress Me Much. They were voted off the show that Sunday.

It is an unfortunate collision of circumstances – and who knows how much Dame Sarah was kept informed – but a couple of days after her last tango, Lancashire transmitted a decision that will shame the county for decades to come and be held up as a prime example of the soulless acts of betrayal that stain sport and leave ordinary people shaking their heads in dismay.

Sir James Anderson, the county’s captain, Player of the Season and their second leading wicket-taker in 2026, had come into the club on that Monday for a meeting in which he was expecting to discuss plans to revive Lancashire. Anderson, in case you have forgotten, has an end named after him at Old Trafford.

Lancashire had finished next to bottom in Division Two of the County Championship last season. Anderson might be 44 but, even amid the club’s struggles, he had taken 50 wickets at an average of 17. 

He was desperate to be part of the attempt to return the club to the top. He did not imagine his place at the county he had represented for 25 years was in jeopardy.

But Anderson was told by Paul Farbrace, Lancashire’s incoming director of cricket, and chief executive Richard Kenyon that he would not be offered a fresh contract for the 2027 season. Anderson was stunned. 

He was entitled to be stunned. The cricket world was stunned, too. Sport is no stranger to grandstanding fools making bad decisions but even in that context, this felt like a starburst of stupidity.

Farbrace took the responsibility for the decision. A popular coach, well-regarded by many during his time with England as assistant to Peter Moores and Trevor Bayliss, Farbrace said that he and the chief executive wanted to take the county in a different direction and look to youth. 

Presumably, he thought Anderson would not be at Lancashire in five years’ time and so he wanted to move on from him. He said it was an ‘incredibly difficult decision’. 

The decision feels deeply flawed on many different levels. No one expects Anderson to be viewed as a charity case, least of all Anderson, but the fact that he deserved a place in the team was beyond doubt. 

He was still the best seam bowler at the county. Lancashire are nowhere near good enough to toss him on to the rubbish heap. If Farbrace were a strong leader, he would have kept Anderson. Sure, he wants to turn to youth. That’s understandable. 

But why would you not retain the services of the best who has ever played the game in this country to help guide young players through the early stages of their career? Anderson could have done that and played a clutch of matches, too.

Maybe Anderson didn’t smile often enough for Farbrace. That is something that is levelled at him sometimes but Anderson likes to win. He’s not in it for the giggles or the public relations. He’s just a one-of-a-kind committed cricketer. It beggars belief that Farbrace and Kenyon do not value that. 

Storey and the current Lancashire board are light on experience in county cricket. Maybe she was not consulted about the decision to discard Anderson. If she wasn’t, she should have been. She is already leading a review of Lancashire’s cricket operations. Now she has another farrago to add to her list of things that really ought to have been done a lot better. 

The lack of class with which Lancashire behaved towards Anderson took the breath away then and it still does now. They could not even muster the courtesy or the competence to allow him to tell his wife and parents before the news broke elsewhere. ‘Pretty disrespectful,’ Stuart Broad called it. Pretty disrespectful is only the half of it.

Only two men – spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan – have taken more Test wickets than Anderson. His mark of 704 for a pace bowler will not be broken for a long, long time. Many think it will never fall.

To say that Farbrace’s reign has been born under a bad sign would be an understatement. Many of the county’s ex-players are so disgusted with the treatment of Anderson that they do not trust themselves to speak publicly about it.

Farbrace and Kenyon are new to the club. Who are they, as a group, to decide to force a player of Anderson’s calibre out of Lancashire? ‘Abhorrent,’ one former player called Lancashire’s behaviour.

Any goodwill Farbrace might have hoped to bring with him because of his reputation within the game has been destroyed. He hobbled himself before his tenure had formally begun. He hobbled the team, too. Lancashire are not good enough that they can afford to let a bowler of Anderson’s ability leave.

Even if Lancashire’s fortunes do improve over the next couple of years – and it would be hard for them to stay this low – that will not justify the decision to axe Anderson. Lancashire have lost their dignity with what they have done. The club is still racked with rancour and division and it is easy to see why.

Half a mile away, at the other end of Warwick Road, the other Old Trafford squats in its misery, another den of dysfunction as Manchester United labour under the yoke of the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. They are twinned in their despair now, these two great sporting institutions, brought low by the acts of those who do not deserve to shape them.

Hard to blame Iraola for encouraging diving after Isak clanger   

In a game that was stained by the cheating of actors masquerading as footballers, it was a shame that the officials at the Liverpool-Arsenal match on Sunday failed to award a penalty to Alexander Isak because he stayed on his feet when he was the victim of a blatant shirt-pull by Jurrien Timber. 

It reflected well on Isak that, with Liverpool trailing 1-0 in the first half, he chose not to throw himself to the floor when he felt the Liverpool defender yanking at his jersey as he tried to reach a cross from Bradley Barcola. Isak trusted the officials to make the decision and uphold the law. 

But quite how referee Andy Madley and VAR Stuart Attwell failed to award a penalty for the foul beggars belief. 

The result is that Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola says he will tell Isak he has to fall next time he is fouled. It is hard to blame him. 

Referees have a desperately difficult job trying to decode the cheating that assails them during every Premier League game. Which means that on the rare occasions when a player, like Isak, tries to do the right thing and avoids histrionics, it is especially important he should be rewarded for his honesty.