James Anderson has branded the County Championship's injury replacement trial "daft" and "nonsensical" after Lancashire were twice denied their preferred choices. The England legend was frustrated when Tom Hartley was blocked from replacing injured spinner Arav Shetty at Durham, despite being a like-for-like option. The match referee ruled Hartley too experienced to replace Shetty, who suffered a broken thumb in three places. This followed a similar situation at Gloucestershire where Tom Bailey was deemed unsuitable to replace Ajeet Singh Dale.

Anderson criticized the decision-making process on his Tailenders podcast, questioning what protocols exist. "They just check Cricinfo and the stats, to see if the averages are better," he said. The regulations meant Shetty, a spin-bowling all-rounder, was replaced by wicketkeeper George Bell, who bowls occasional spin. Anderson pointed out the contradiction: "Surely the whole reason the replacement thing has been brought in is for situations like that."

The ECB will gather feedback from directors of cricket at all 18 counties during the remaining two rounds before the T20 Blast break, potentially altering the regulations. Anderson admitted his team would have been short without replacements but said he was "leaning towards" scrapping the system entirely. The 43-year-old noted the rules effectively mean he could never replace anyone due to his experience level.