James Anderson says he would have seriously considered the England Test captaincy had it been offered to him after the resignation of Alastair Cook, and lamented the lack of captaincy opportunities available for fast bowlers in international cricket.

Despite playing 122 Tests over 13 years, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker was not one of the three players interviewed by the England and Wales Cricket Board in February. Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad constituted the three-man shortlist, with long-term favourite Root getting the job.

Anderson said he understood the decision. “It would have been nice to have been considered for it,” he said. “Whether I would have taken it, I’m not sure. From a personal point of view I would have seriously thought about it.

“But if I was on the outside looking in, I would have thought: ‘Is this actually where the team needs to go, with a 34-year-old as captain? In the grander scheme of things, it makes sense for a younger guy to do it.”

With his forensic understanding of bowling, Anderson has long been regarded as one of the sharpest cricketing brains in the England dressing room. He captained Lancashire on their recent pre-season tour of the United Arab Emirates, and it is one of the anomlaies of modern English cricket that neither he nor Stuart Broad has ever had the opportunity to captain England in Test cricket.