As a team, we have to think there is life beyond Anderson and Broad: Strauss

Andrew Strauss said James Anderson and Stuart Broad still have a future in Test cricket after England's leading wicket-takers were left out of next month's tour of the West Indies. The pacemen were omitted from a 16-man squad announced on Tuesday for a three-match series in the Caribbean despite boasting 1,177 Test wickets between them as England seek to bounce back from their Ashes debacle in Australia.

"They were both disappointed and you wouldn't expect anything else from two of England's greatest bowlers. I just think it's important to look at the frame in which we're looking at this tour. The truth is our Test team haven't performed well for a while now and our batting in particular hasn't been up to the level it needs to be. Secondly, if we want to be the best team in the world, we have to win away from home consistently. We haven't done that - I think we've won four out of our last 13 series away from home, and that needs to improve. And this is the start of a new cycle, so it's an opportunity to refresh and look forward," Strauss, the ECB's interim managing director of men's cricket, told the BBC.

"With that in mind we see this as an opportunity to bring some new blood into the bowling resources. There's obviously some change in the batting line-up as well, but we will also ask our existing bowlers to play a slightly different role to the one they've played before and show a bit more leadership, so we have the opportunity to do that now. No one is saying that Broad and Anderson won't feature this summer and beyond but my job, I think, as director of cricket, is to give whoever takes over, the new director of cricket and coach, options from which to pick. I think this tour we can learn more about the options we do have."

Anderson, who has 640 Test wickets, and fellow pace bowler Broad, who has 537 scalps, are among eight players axed from the squad that suffered a humiliating 4-0 Ashes series loss in Australia. There have long been suggestions the 39-year-old Anderson and 35-year-old Broad have held too much sway over England captain Joe Root, who is continuing in his post despite the Ashes defeat. Strauss has also presided over the departures of managing director Ashley Giles, head coach Chris Silverwood and batting coach Graham Thorpe in a shake-up of England's backroom staff.

"I'd struggle to criticise Stuart Broad or James Anderson in any way. They've been great servants to the game, they've been utterly professional, their performances have been outstanding and of course they've earned the right to have that stature. But as a team we have to also think there is life beyond them as well, and we need to develop some of the other bowlers and allow them to play more of a leadership role rather than a followership role and so we have the opportunity over these five weeks to do that. The new coach and director of cricket will look at selection over the summer and Broad and Anderson will be very much in the mix."

Strauss said it was "blatantly obvious" that England needed variety in their bowling attack. "This is more about us finding a bowling resource that's capable of winning away from home and obviously you need a lot of variety in your attack to do that; that's blatantly obvious. It is the start of a new cycle and it is a refresh and a reset and that dressing room will feel very different without Broad and Anderson in it over the course of the tour but I wouldn't in any way want people to think that Broad and Anderson aren't thoroughly professional in everything they do in an England shirt. That's why they've been as successful as they have been in England colours and they've still got a lot to offer both on and off the field," he told Sky Sports News.

"They're both very disappointed, and that doesn't surprise me; they're very passionate about playing for England. So I hope that they understand the rationale for the decision and I hope also they understand that no one is saying this is the end of the road for either of them. I suppose there's a danger (they see it that way), but I was trying to be as clear as I can with them. And I suppose their job right at the moment is to get themselves fired up and ready to go for the start of the international summer in June."

England did not once manage a total of 300 in the five-match Ashes series, with Strauss revealing star batsman Root had asked to move up to number three in a bid to shore up the faltering top order. "The first thing he (Root) said in selection was that he was very keen to bat three moving forward. That came from him; that was his request. And I think everyone agrees that that's probably a healthy thing for the England cricket team at the moment.

"Our issues have been in the top three, top of the order. So we're going to see a new opening partnership out there with Alex Lees coming in and Joe's stepping up to No. 3 - that gives a bit of space in the middle order for some of those less experienced players to show what they can do but also show what they can do more consistently, which has been the big problem."

"We just haven't been consistent enough at the top of the order so Alex Lees comes in as a mature cricketer who knows his game well and it's an opportunity for him to stake his claim at the top of the order with Zak Crawley. And more importantly, Joe Root has said very categorically that he wants to bat at No. 3, and take that responsibility on. That's quite a fundamental shift in itself and creates a bit of space in the middle order for some of the less experienced players to play better and play more consistently," Strauss added to the BBC.

Strauss feels it's important to build new leaders within the group who could help Root if and when needed. "What I do think is it gives an opportunity at the moment for people to stand up and play leadership roles they haven't previously. We need a good solid spine to that team moving forward. We need leaders, not just the captain, and this provides an opportunity for some of the players to do that.

"Teams always need a number of influential voices to push the team forward. Everyone expects the captain to do that but anyone who has played for England knows that influential voices behind the captain are important. In the bowling attack, we're looking at the likes of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes to play more of that role. Expect a lot from Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow as well. They have the chance to pull out the stops and help Joe Root."

(With inputs from AFP)