STuart Broad has had a lot of time on his hands these past two months, as he has been tending to the torn calf muscle that meant he played alone in the first round of the series with India. Judging by the way he spoke during an LV-hosted grassroots cricket event in Leyton on Friday, he has put it to good use in planning how to make his comeback in Australia.
Broad has clearly been reading about the disputes between the Australian players and their coach, Justin Langer. “Our only goal has to be in Brisbane. The Gabba has the key to the series, if we are 100% of the money in the first test, we can put this Australian team under pressure, on the field, “he says, and then adds, intentionally:” And out of it.
Broad has been bowling for two weeks, working at roughly 80% of what he is capable of. He hasn’t pitched a batter and he won’t until the team gets to Australia “because I can’t control my competitive instincts, so if I get hit through the covers and I push myself a bit, it could put me in some kind of danger.” . .
The tear was so bad that for the first two weeks she couldn’t get off the couch, but the wound was at least clean, which means it has healed well. However, it was difficult. He spent countless hours walking up and down in a pool, 7,000 steps a day, accumulating new tissue in his calf.
He says the rest has done him good, that he feels “fit, mentally fresh and ready to run.”
By the time the series begins, it will be four months since he threw a test, but he takes comfort in knowing that it has been a lot longer since the men he’ll be bowling for hit one. Australia has not played a test since January.
“It will be a fascinating series, because it will be very unpredictable,” he says. “There will be a lot of players looking for a little preparation for the game, the Australians haven’t played for a long time.”
Part of the time on his break he was listening to audiobooks, and much of the rest he was thinking about the data he got from England bowling coach Jon Lewis.
“I’ve been doing some research, I asked him to send every window taken by right arm pitchers over the window to right-handers and every window taken by right arm launchers around the wicket to left-handers in Australia in the last six years.” , He says.
“In England we talk about the need for a fast pace in Australia, but that is not what I see in the research that I am doing. What we need is relentlessness with the ball ”.
Which, he says, is what England has. “If you look at our bowling arsenal, there’s no way we’re going to blow everyone up, because realistically, we just have Mark Wood going over 90 mph. So we have to use what’s in our arsenal, and that’s relentless, guys moving the ball constantly. “
It would be helpful if Jofra Archer was with them, “but if you look, it’s Kyle Abbott and Vernon Philander who have gotten brilliant records there recently. It’s all about the entire bowling unit putting the stumps into play, repeating them and repeating them and repeating them for long periods of time, this is how you get success in Australia. So I’m not too worried. “
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I’m not worried about that or the quarantine regulations or whether Ben Stokes can join the tour. You feel, listening to him, that he’s thinking about the 2017-18 tour, when England allowed themselves to be distracted from what really mattered, which is how they played those first five days. He’s determined never to make the same mistake again.
Stuart Broad spoke at the LV = Insurance “In With Heart” tour, showcasing recipients of # Funds4Runs, a £ 1 million joint initiative between the ECB and LV = Sure to support grassroots cricket. Visit lv.com/gi/cricket
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism