England captain Ben Stokes says the decision to move on from fast bowler James Anderson is motivated by the aim of being in the best possible position to win back the Ashes from Australia next winter.
Anderson, 41, the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers in Test history with 700 dismissals in 187 games, is preparing for the start of his final international match, as England take on West Indies at Lord's from Wednesday.
Stokes, along with England head coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key, decided that they want to use this summer's home fixtures to prepare their younger bowlers for their next tour of Australia, which will begin in November 2025.
"You look at how long it's been since we've played a Test match, I think it's been five months," Stokes said. "When you have a lot of time off, you've got a lot of time to think about how you can take the team forward.
"I've been captain now for two years, so for me it's about progressing this team. We've been a team, especially the first two years, we've been very focused on the here and now of what we need to do, whereas two years is a long time for something to be fine then. But for me, I want to be able to implement stuff to push this team as far as they can go, not only as a team collective but also as individuals.
"And you look at where we've got to go in 18 months' time, to Australia. We want to win that urn back.
"We've got an incredibly talented and exciting group of bowlers coming through at the moment, so giving them the experience of playing international cricket, getting Test matches under their belt, will put us in a much stronger position to hopefully go out to Australia and win the Ashes."
