Jimmy Anderson has revealed the “sadness and shock” he felt at his surprise Lancashire dismissal while he weighs up whether his future involves playing cricket or “something different”.

Speaking for the first time since being told he will not have his county contract renewed, the England great told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast that the decision even made him question whether there is “something fundamentally wrong with me as a person”.

The 44-year-old, his country’s leading wicket-taker, had played for Lancashire for 26 years since making his debut at the turn of the century and was let go despite taking 50 wickets, while captaining the side, at an average of 17 amid their struggles in Division Two of the County Championship this year.

“I went in for what I thought was a conversation about how the team moves forward,” Anderson said on the podcast. “It wasn’t a great year for the team. Being captain I thought it was chat about that. A couple of minutes in I realised it wasn’t a conversation.…