Stuart Broad
The paceman hasn’t called an end to his ODI career just yet
Despite only playing in two ODIs in the last 18 months, Stuart Broad tells Chris Stocks he is determined to play again
The gap between England’s last Test in Chennai and this week’s Investec series opener against South Africa at Lord’s was more than six months.
For Stuart Broad, it was a strange feeling being outside of the England bubble for so long and one that has made him even more determined to break back into the one-day team ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
The Champions Trophy and its build-up was the reason for that extended hiatus in Test cricket. It was a tournament that proved England still have some way to go to capture their first major 50-over title after they fell in the semi-finals to eventual winners Pakistan.
Their next chance will come again on home soil in two years’ time and Broad believes he can keep his World Cup dream alive after his part in Nottinghamshire’s successful One-Day Cup campaign.
Now 31, Broad has played just two ODIs since the 2015 World Cup – both in South Africa 18 months ago – but he is hopeful he can fight his way back into the selectors’ thoughts.
The fast bowler played in all 11 of Notts’ One-Day Cup matches. His ten wickets at 47 may not suggest he is a player England might want to look at again in this format but his role – bowling dry in the middle overs – meant he was the team’s most economical bowler throughout the tournament, conceding just 5.48 runs per over.
“It’s a nice position for me to have been in to play for Nottinghamshire in all of those games and come away with a trophy because it’s good when you’re playing in a successful team, isn’t it?” says Broad. “I think the selectors look at you a bit more when your team is on top and winning trophies.
“I did a role for Nottinghamshire they wanted me to do; that first-change role trying to dry up runs between overs 10 and 25. I enjoy doing that, it’s not a particularly wicket-taking role like it is with the new ball, but I enjoy that.
“It was certainly a learning experience for me and something I really enjoyed. I’m going to keep pushing, training and trying to get myself better in white-ball cricket up until 2019 because anything can happen leading into a World Cup. The dream is still there.
“If someone goes down on the eve of the tournament you want to be in the best possible shape for someone to call on you. I’ll just keep working and trying. We saw this summer there were a few niggles flying around.”
As for that long absence away from England, Broad says: “You want to be playing every game, but I’ve had a really good period to work on parts of my game and I feel in a really good place.
“It’s a huge bonus winning a one-day trophy with Nottinghamshire and being able to go through that whole cycle playing every game. To play the ten games leading up to the final was a great experience.
“It gave me, from the Big Bash into this season, a rhythm in white-ball cricket, and an awareness of where I need to improve and where the game’s gone.
“It’s always frustrating when England are playing and you’re not playing, but I thoroughly enjoyed being back at Notts working with (head coach) Peter Moores and (assistant head coach) Paul Franks and honing parts of my game for big occasions like the next three or four months.”
Broad, along with James Anderson, is now the most senior bowler in England’s Test team, with his appearance at Lord’s this week his 103rd cap. With the likes of Jake Ball, his Notts colleague, Toby Roland-Jones and Mark Wood all coming through in recent years, he has had to adapt and improve in the longest form of the game and, despite his status, feels a pressure to perform every time he represents his country.
“Whenever you pull on the shirt you have that pressure, but certainly I’ve gone from being a prospect who gets an extra game because I might be good to where I have to perform every game, which is good,” says Broad. “I’m the sort of person who seems to thrive on that added pressure and I tend to raise my game a bit when there’s a bit more on the game. I think it will do me the world of good. I’ve been in a period in the last three or four years to need to perform to stay in the team and warrant staying in the team, but I’ve been bowling probably the best of my career over the last four years and, with some tweaks I’ve made in county cricket, hopefully I can really push on.”
As for his partnership with Anderson, Broad is hopeful it can last until at least the end of next winter’s Ashes in Australia despite his new-ball partner’s recent injury problems and, at 35, his advancing years.
He said: “I know Jimmy’s got a huge target of winning the Ashes in Australia, and I know that he’s working extremely hard to be in top shape for next January.”
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“If someone goes down on the eve of a tournament you want to be in the best possible shape for “someone to call on you