England's decision to move on from James Anderson was made with the aim of preparing a new generation of bowlers for the next Ashes series, says Ben Stokes.
Anderson – England's all-time leading wicket-taker with 700 in 187 red-ball matches – will play his final Test against West Indies at Lord's this week.
The 41-year-old is not going out on his own terms, insisting on Monday that he is bowling as well as he ever has but saying he has been forced to "make peace" with the decision.
Gus Atkinson will make his Test debut against the Windies, while Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts are competing to replace Anderson when the three-match series moves to Nottingham.
England's revamp of their bowling attack comes after they failed to reclaim the Ashes on home soil last year, drawing a rain-affected series 2-2.
They head down under for the next edition in 2025-26, and Stokes says they will use the intervening time to blood a new generation of talent.
"You look at how long it's been since we've played a Test match, I think it's been five months," England's red-ball captain told reporters on Tuesday.
"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 for two years, so it's about progressing this team. Especially for the first two years, we've been very focused on the here and now of what we need to do.
"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 collective but also as individuals.
"If 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 win the Ashes."
Anderson's farewell comes at a venue where he has taken 119 Test wickets, the second-most of any player at a particular venue after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo (166).
"He's an amazing bowler. There's no doubt that he could still go out there and play Test cricket, because he is good enough," Stokes said of Anderson.
"But when we spoke with Jimmy, we laid it out with him and gave him our reasons, and he totally understood it.
"This week will all be about Jimmy, and rightly so, but I can tell you his main focus is about going out there, taking wickets and trying to win this game for England."
Jangoo continues red hot form with 111 to lead Red Force to 45-run DLS method win over Harpy Eagles
Amir Jangoo’s red hot form in this season’s CG United Super50 Cup continued on Saturday with a maiden List A century to lead his team to a 45-run DLS method win over the Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Queen’s Park Oval.
In a match reduced to 45 overs-per-side, Jangoo, coming off scores of 96 and 70*, led the way with 111 off 114 balls to help the defending champions post an imposing 288-3 in their 45 overs.
The left-hander’s innings included 10 fours and two sixes. Jyd Goolie and Kjorn Ottley also got half centuries with 68* off 51 balls and 66 off 86 balls, respectively.
The Harpy Eagles were then reduced to 201-7 off 39 overs when the game was called off for bad light with them 45 runs short of the DLS par score.
Kemol Savory was left stranded on 69* off 92 balls. Anderson Phillip took 2-37 from six overs while Bryan Charles took 2-40 off nine overs.
Full Scores:
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 288-3 off 45 overs (Amir Jangoo 111, Jyd Goolie 68, Kjorn Ottley 66)
Guyana Harpy Eagles 201-7 off 39 overs (Kemol Savory 69*, Kevlon Anderson 32, Anderson Phillip 2-37, Bryan Charles 2-37)
The win moves the Red Force back to the top of the points standings with 48 from five games, 10 points ahead of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and 14 ahead of the Barbados Pride in third.
The Harpy Eagles are four points ahead of the Jamaica Scorpions in fourth with 28.
Spinners star as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by four wickets in opening T20I
Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the first T20I of their two-match series in Dambulla.
Captain Charith Asalanka scored an unbeaten 35 to help the hosts go past the 136-run target set by the Black Caps with an over to spare.
After losing opener Kusal Mendis for a duck in the second over, Kusal Perera hit a quick 23 runs off 15 balls, while Kamindu Mendis also added the same amount to the scoreboard as Sri Lanka eased to victory despite losing six wickets.
The tourists had struggled on a surface that aided Sri Lanka's spinners, with Dunith Wellalage (3-20), Wanindu Hasaranga (2-20) and Maheesh Theekshana (1-21) picking up six wickets between them.
All-rounder Zakary Foulkes, who went on to get his career-best T20I figures of 3-20 with the ball, and Michael Bracewell both scored 27 runs for a youthful New Zealand side, which ultimately lost wickets at regular intervals and could not mount the big score needed to truly test Sri Lanka.
The two sides will meet again in the second and T20I match on Sunday before the first of the three one-day internationals at the same venue on Wednesday.
George laments 'unforgivable' England showing after last-gasp Australia defeat
England captain Jamie George labelled his side's performance as "unforgivable" after their 42-37 defeat to Australia on Saturday.
The Red Rose came flying out of the blocks with two early tries from Chandler Cunningham-South before Australia hit back through Tom Wright and Harry Wilson at Twickenham.
Noah Lolesio's penalty ensured the Wallabies snatched a 20-18 lead at the break, only for England replacement Ollie Sleightholme to drag his side ahead with a brilliant double.
Andrew Kellaway and Mario Itoje exchanged late scores for either side before Max Jorgensen’s last-gasp try secured victory for Australia.
George lamented his side's defensive showing after ending on the wrong side of a high-scoring thriller.
"I think the blueprint of how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes," George told TNT Sport. "We put Australia under a lot of pressure. Sometimes in a Test match like that you think the job is done.
"We took our foot off the gas. Credit to Australia they were very good but we cannot keep doing that, it will be a tough one to watch back.
"It is a fine balance between closing up shop and trying to see out the win rather than attacking. We talk about being brave and courageous and that [Itoje] try was exactly that. We will look at being better.
"The system and the principle all work. We know it works, but we didn't quite get what we wanted out if it.
"Leaking 42 points at home is unforgivable. They got front-foot ball and then have some pretty good runners outside."
Saturday marked the first time England have lost four Test matches in a row since 2018, when they suffered five straight defeats under Eddie Jones.
England head coach Steve Borthwick echoed George's sentiment after the Autumn Nations Series defeat.
"Gutting. We made such a number of errors, and it gave opportunities to the opposition to run in tries and they did," he told TNT Sport.
"In terms of our mindset, you are seeing a team wanting to move the ball and we want that, but we have to understand the consequences of it, and we saw that here.
"We didn't give our defence the chance to show what it can do, there was so much turnover and loose ball that the system couldn't set itself.
"There'll be no shortage of motivation for next week for South Africa."
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