‘Big tick’: Broad happy after England’s bowlers make short work of Ireland
Stuart Broad said England’s bowlers had blown away their doubters as well as Ireland’s batters on the first day of the Test summer at Lord’s, after England’s three-seamer attack, augmented by the spin of Jack Leach, bowled the visitors out for 172 before England raced to within 20 of their score in only 25 overs for the loss of one wicket.
“When you win the toss and bowl your aim is to try and bowl the team out in a day, so to have done that was a big tick for our bowling attack,” Broad said. “Then I thought the way the three guys played this evening was exactly the mindset that Baz and Stokesy want.
“It was positive, it was aggressive, it put the bowlers under pressure, and we’ll hopefully see a bit more of that on Friday.”
Broad led the way with the ball, taking five wickets for 51, his 20th fivewicket haul in Tests but his first at Lord’s for more than a decade.
“You can’t underestimate the feeling of seeing your name on the honours board here because it is the most famous in the world and it is very special to get on it,” he said.
“I’ve always loved playing here, it gives me such a buzz to walk through that long room and on to that pitch.
“A few of us were out there at tea when the sun was shining for one of the first times this season and we were all saying, ‘How good’s this? Blue sky at Lord’s, a crowd in, Test match, it’s as good as it gets.’
“I actually felt probably in the best rhythm of the summer so far. To come into the first game of the international summer and really hit my straps and feel like I was on the money is a great start for me.
“I don’t rely on confidence at my age, I know I can bowl well and where the ball is going, but it’s always a nice lift when you have some wickets behind you.”
Josh Tongue may not have got that particular lift but he nevertheless described his first experience of Test cricket as “a very proud day for myself and my family”. He said: “At the end of my mark for my first over I was a bit nervous but as soon as I got that first ball down it sort of settled the nerves, and I thought I started quite well. I went to the short-ball stuff later, which I enjoy doing.
“The main thing is trying to get wickets and not worrying about runs, and I thought if I was doing that at one end we were going to pick up wickets at the other end, which we did.”
The only thing that really troubled England all day was an intervention from Just Stop Oil protesters, who blocked the team bus as it made its way to Lord’s.
“They made a mistake actually – if they wanted to stop us they shouldn’t have kept on walking at the traffic lights because they just gave us an exit route,” Broad said. “I was half expecting to see them on the pitch at some point today but they only caused us a five-minute delay.”
Heinrich Malan, the Ireland coach, felt his side had made England’s task unnecessarily straightforward. “There’s disappointment about the way we went about our business,” he said.
“There were a couple of soft dismissals, and obviously the way we bowled at the back end there we didn’t necessarily cover ourselves in glory. So there’s a bit of self-reflection going on at the minute. They batted pretty well, but we bowled pretty averagely.”