Selections cop a solid Broadside

THE man Australia feared may be recalled – for the conditions that suit him least.

England’s confused selectors are considering bringing Stuart Broad back for the Sydney Test, but he’s already missed the party.

Broad wrote in his column for the UK’s Daily Mail that he felt he was benched for pitches in Brisbane and Melbourne where he could have done damage to Australia and potentially changed the course of a one-sided series.

Two of his biggest adversaries, Steve Smith and David Warner, don’t disagree and it was Christmas coming early to only have to face Broad in one of the three Tests before the series was decided.

“We have been a bit surprised,” Smith said on Monday. “They are two wickets that would have suited him pretty well. He bowled well in Adelaide. He’s always been a good contest for me.

“They have quality bowlers. Him and Jimmy (Anderson) together are two world-class performers, they have been for a long time. Maybe we’ll see them out here together this week, I’m not sure.”

Broad tormented Warner and Marcus Harris during the 2019 Ashes in the UK, and the left-handers scarcely believed their luck at not being confronted by the English magician in the first Test in Brisbane. The other Test he missed was at the MCG – described by Smith as the biggest seaming deck he’s encountered in Test cricket.

There is no second guessing what Broad thinks about the situation, even if he returns for flatter, batter-friendly conditions in Sydney.

“As a wobble-seam bowler, I feel as though I missed out on two of the best wobble-seam pitches in Australia,” he wrote.

“Only playing once has made this a very disappointing trip. The biggest frustration is losing the Ashes, being 3-0 down and feeling like I’ve not really done anything. Not being able, as an experienced player, to influence a series while it’s live is tough.

“I’ve never seen so much thatchy grass on a pitch (as at the MCG) ... enough to make bowlers drool and batsmen weep.”