Tim Southee in line to replace Anderson as England bowling coach

Former New Zealand seam bowler Tim Southee is being considered as England men's bowling consultant, replacing James Anderson who had held the role since retiring from Test cricket in July.

With Anderson proritising a season-long deal to play for Lancashire this summer, BBC Sport reported on Tuesday that Southee, who himself retired from international cricket after England's tour of New Zealand at the end of 2024, is the frontrunner to fill that gap.

Southee, 36, finished a distinguished 16-year international career as the Black Caps' leading wicket-taker, and would reunite with his former captain and good friend Brendon McCullum should he join England's backroom staff. The pair represented New Zealand together on 170 occasions - McCullum skippering for 78 of them - while also sharing the field at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and Middlesex in the T20 Blast. McCullum even presented Southee with a bottle of red wine signed by the England team at the conclusion of Southee's 107th and final Test in Hamilton.

McCullum has long held the belief that Southee would make a good bowling coach. It helps, too, that Southee has a good relationship with many of the current squad, including Test captain Ben Stokes.

Ideally, England would have a bowling consultant in place for the summer to oversee both red-and white-ball formats. It would also be beneficial for the sake of continuity that the successful candidate continues through for the Ashes. Anderson, a veteran of five tours of Australia, could end up fulfilling that role if, for instance, Southee could not commit to the winter.

England's international season gets underway on May 22 with a one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, followed by a five-match series against India, which is sandwiched by limited-overs series against West Indies and South Africa. There is also a three-match T20I tour of Ireland in September.

England are due to name their squad for the Zimbabwe Test on Friday. Given the spate of injuries, it is likely to feature a relatively inexperienced bowling group, including a maiden call-up for Essex seamer Sam Cook.

Southee was already down to feature in the English summer through his £63,000 deal with Birmingham Phoenix in the men's Hundred. Upon his retirement, he stated a desire to continue on the franchise circuit, and played the entirety of this year's ILT20 tournament for Sharjah Warriors. As such, any prospective deal with the ECB will require him to park what remains of his playing career for the time being.

That being said, there is no international clash with the Hundred; Phoenix's season begins four days after the end of the final India Test at the Kia Oval, with the Hundred final two days before the one-day series with South Africa. And next year's ILT20 begins five days after the scheduled final day of fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.

Anderson, meanwhile, is still yet to make a County Championship appearance for Lancashire this summer as he continues to battle a calf injury. Having missed the opening month's Division Two fixtures, he will also sit out this week's match with Gloucestershire and perhaps the following round against Northamptonshire. A home meeting with Derbyshire on May 16 has been earmarked for a potential return to action.