Jimmy Anderson has revealed how news of Lancashire’s decision not to renew his contract was leaked to the media before he had a chance to tell his family.

Speaking publicly for the first time since he was snubbed by his boyhood club last week, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker told the  podcast about how his career at the county ended during a meeting on 19 October with new director of cricket Paul Farbrace and chief executive Richard Kenyon.

The 44-year-old also spoke about how the news was leaked two days later while he was on a golf course in Ireland before he had a chance to tell either his wife, Daniella, or his parents.

“I was told I could announce it and control the narrative in that respect,” Anderson said. “That was on the Monday and then on the Tuesday I went to Ireland, I had a golf trip booked in with a couple of the Lancashire lads.

“On the Wednesday I got a text from someone at the club in the morning, we were playing golf, saying ‘mate, I had no idea, I’ve just seen the press release’. And I was like ‘what press release?’ and obviously Mike Atherton had written about it in .

“That panicked me because I’d not really told Daniella about what had happened, I’d not told my Mum and Dad. So I panicked and tried to tell them. So not a great week to be honest.”

Anderson is now free to pursue deals with other counties and with questions remaining over his playing future, here are six other things we learned from his extensive interview with the 

Lancashire decision came out of nowhere

Anderson captained Lancashire last season and took 50 County Championship wickets at 17. So when he was called into a meeting with Farbrace and Kenyon he assumed it was about how the club could move forward after a campaign where they finished second-bottom of Division Two.

Despite turning 45 next summer, he did not see the bad news coming. “A couple of minutes in I realised it wasn’t a conversation,” he said. “I was being told they thought the best way for the team to move forward was without me. I was quite shocked. It was quite brief.”

He is likely to play in Italy next month

Having become a co-owner of the Napoli Knights in Italy’s new T10 competition, Anderson looks set to play in the first edition of the tournament that takes place next month.

“Whether I’ll play or not is something I’ll have to discuss with the owners,” he said. When it was pointed out he  one of the owners, he joked: “Imagine if I came out of that meeting told I don’t have a gig!”

Anderson also opened the door to playing for another county…

With several clubs interested in signing him, Anderson did not rule out carrying on his playing career away from Lancashire next summer.

“I am still trying to process everything and weigh up the best way forward,” he said. “I am starting to get excited about the future, whether it is something different or playing cricket again.”

Asked about potentially joining Lancashire’s rivals, Anderson said: “I wouldn’t have thought so.”

Read more

Indicated he wants to retire on his own terms

Having also been brutally axed by England two years ago, the feeling Anderson might indeed carry on playing was underlined by the fact he said: “I don’t know if my career is done, we will have to wait and see, but it would be nice at some point if someone would let me retire.”

Latest rejection led to existential crisis

Perhaps the most telling part of the interview was Anderson admitting he wondered if there something wrong with him after Lancashire moved him on in similar fashion to England. “All of the way through the season myself and the head coach were like ‘is it something we are doing? Could we be doing more to help the team?” he said. “I finished the season thinking ‘Was I doing something wrong?’ – and then I get this news. Now I am thinking that even more. I am thinking ‘this is happening again. Is there something fundamentally wrong with me as a person?’”