Forest fan Broad ‘flying’ ahead of opening Test

STUART Broad has revealed he feels like he is “flying” now that he is back in the England squad following his omission for the West Indies tour over the winter.

New captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have brought Broad and James Anderson back into the fold for the first Test match against New Zealand at Lord’s, which starts tomorrow.

Broad, who is also basking in the glory of Nottingham Forest winning promotion to the Premier League at Wembley on Sunday, said: “I am flying, I am just excited to be around.

“The chance of being at the home of cricket and the home of football in the same week, if you’d have told my 12-year-old self that I wouldn’t have believed you. It is going to be great.”

Broad, right, who turns 36 later this month, is looking forward to a new era under Stokes and McCullum, and is excited for the future.

“Very much so,” he added. “It was a big change in the leadership above the team’s head and there are good guys there. We are looking forward to getting moving on the pitch.

“We have only been together as a squad since Monday. There is an exciting feel to the group. We went to St George’s Park last week for a couple of days and at the team meal that night there was a lot of energy and a lot of focus to get going for an international summer.”

■ Thousands of tickets remain on sale for the first Test, with empty seats expected throughout the game.

With 48 hours to go before the start of the clash against World Test Champions New Zealand, seats were still widely available, with over 16,000 spaces over the first four days at the home of cricket.

Days one, two and three often sell out in advance, but more than 1,000 were still on sale for Thursday’s play, with over 2,000 on offer for Friday and in excess of 4,000 for Saturday. Over 9,000 are listed for Sunday’s play – higher than normal number for day four, although it is not unusual for fans to wait and see how the game develops.