Stuart Broad and JIMMY Anderson were both axed by an England cull in order to make way for the West Indies tour.

With 1,177 Test wickets between them they were one of 8 members who were not included in the Ashes disaster tour party.

After the loss to Australia by 4-0, Chris Silverwood, Ashley Giles director of cricket and Graham Thorpe assistant coach were all fired.

Anderson, 39, as well as Broad, 35 are now part of a series of changes made by Andrew Strauss and interim head coach Paul Collingwood, along with head scout James Taylor.

Jos Buttler, wicket keeper, and failed openers Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, No3 cricketer Dawid Malan, reserve batsman Sam Billings, and spinner Dom Bess were also left out.

They were replaced with FOUR uncapped player - Durham opener Alex Lees and Yorkshire seamer Matthew Fisher as well as Lancashire bowling pair Saqib Mahmood & Matt Parkinson.

Joe Root, the much maligned skipper, will continue to be captain despite calls to him to step down.

Strauss spoke out about the squad full of new faces and said that the selection panel was able to refresh the Test squad, with a special focus on competition away from home.

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"We felt it was time to draw a clear line after the Ashes loss, look ahead and give some impetus through an influx of new players.

"Regarding James Anderson and Stuart Broad I want to emphasize that this does not mean they are no longer England players.

"We believe it is important that we look at exciting new bowling possibilities and give more responsibility to players who have played before.

"No one can doubt the experience and quality that James and Stuart bring the England setup.

"It will be up the new managing director or permanent head coach to decide if they will be involved in this summer."

"This selection is the beginning of a process, and a journey to get England test cricket back to where they need it to be. The hard work begins now."

The three Test series will see the squad arrive in the Caribbean on Feb 25, 2010.

Root and Co begin their tour on March 1st with a warm up match, before the first Test at Antigua begins a week later.

The second and third Tests will be held in Barbados (March 16-20), and Grenada (March 24-28).

According to Strauss, the decision to remove Anderson and Broad doesn't mean that their careers are over.

It is an indication of the leadership's willingness to trust youth.

Anderson has collected 640 dismissals in 169 Test matches, and is England's most successful wicket taker.

Broad is currently second in the list with 537 wins from 152 matches.