England drop Anderson, Broad for West Indies tour

England's all-time leading Test wicket takers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been dropped for the three-Test tour against West Indies, the country's cricket board (ECB) said on Tuesday.

Fast bowlers Anderson and Broad have taken a combined 1,177 wickets in Test cricket but were left out by the selection panel comprising of interim managing director Andrew Strauss, interim head coach Paul Collingwood and head scout James Taylor.

Other players who played in the Ashes but have also been dropped include Dom Bess, Sam Billings, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan.

"In respect of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, I want to emphasise this does not mean the end for them as England players," Strauss said.

"We feel that it is important to look at some exciting new bowling potential and give some added responsibility to other players who have featured previously.

"No one doubts the quality and experience that James and Stuart bring to the England set-up. It will be up to the new managing director and permanent head coach to decide on whether they will be involved this summer and beyond."

Durham opener Alex Lees and Yorkshire seamer Matthew Fisher received their first call-ups while wicketkeeper Ben Foakes also returns to the squad.

Fisher took 20 wickets for Yorkshire last season while Lees scored 625 runs in last year's Championship campaign.

Collingwood was named interim head coach after Chris Silverwood stepped down last week following the team's 4-0 series defeat in the Ashes against Australia.

The England squad is set to fly out on Thursday. The first Test begins on March 8 in Antigua. The three-match Test series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship.

England squad: Joe Root (captain), Jonathan Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Matthew Fisher, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.