Stuart Broad has admitted that his England place was on the line going into the first Test of what proved to be “a very special” Man-of-the-Series performance against India
Andrew Miller23-Aug-2011Stuart Broad has admitted that his England place was on the line going into the first Test of what proved to be “a very special” Man-of-the-Series performance against India, but he believes that a timely return to county cricket transformed his approach and enabled him to revert to being the disciplined bowler that the England management needed him to be.Broad’s personal performance against India was remarkable. He topped the averages with 25 wickets at 13.84, and chipped in with 182 priceless runs as well, including a counterattacking 64 from the depths of 124 for 8 at Trent Bridge that was arguably more valuable than the massive hundreds that England subsequently racked up at Edgbaston and The Oval.However, in the first England series of the summer, against Sri Lanka in May and June, Broad had been limited to eight wickets at 48.75 in three Tests. It had been a scattergun performance, full of wayward lines and lengths, and one that was not helped by the bowling coach, David Saker, referring to him as England’s “enforcer”. The impression was of a bowler trying too hard to be aggressive, and ignoring the basic disciplines that had proven so effective for England in the Ashes.”It has been a big learning curve,” said Broad. “It was the first time this summer in my short career that I have been put under a huge amount of pressure like that. You do start asking questions of yourself, and those questions needed answering. It doesn’t matter what people think outside the changing room, but for me personally I had to work out what type of bowler I wanted to be and what was the best way to take Test wickets and help the side out.”Anyone who had witnessed Broad’s displays against Australia at The Oval in August 2009, or against South Africa at Durban four months later, was in no doubt about the best approach for Broad to take – full and fuller. However, with his confidence at a low ebb in mid-July, he returned to county duty for Nottinghamshire against Somerset at Trent Bridge, and on an unforgiving surface, he sowed his own seeds of revival with a first-innings haul of 5 for 95 in 30.1 overs.It was all the incentive he needed to shelve the overt aggro, and settle into a relentless full length, allied to a dangerous bouncer that he used sparingly but effectively, particularly at India’s tailenders. The returns were instantaneous, as he tore through India’s first innings at Lord’s with 4 for 37 in 22 overs, before crushing their brief revival at Trent Bridge with a career-best 6 for 46 on a tumultuous second evening, including a hat-trick.”To go away and play for Notts, and get a five-for pitching the ball up a week before the Test gave me a lot of confidence,” said Broad. “That was how I wanted to bowl in this series, but then for it to happen straightaway at Lord’s – to pick up four wickets and I could have potentially had more – that length showed me the way to go. I followed that throughout the Test series and I’m not sure of exact stats but 25 wickets at 13 or 14 speak for themselves.”It was about going back into the Notts changing-room and speaking to the likes of Andre Adams and Mick Newell, and realising what I wanted to do,” he added. “My bouncer is a dangerous weapon and always will be for me, but to use that once as a surprise every over makes that fuller ball more dangerous. I think throughout this series it is my fuller ball that has got the wickets, and now we can call Bressy [Tim Bresnan] the enforcer.”It still seems odd that Broad needed quite so much persuasion to play to the strengths that had proved so effective in the past, but that in part comes down to England’s willingness to hunt for their wickets as a pack. During the first Test of the Ashes at Brisbane, before a stomach injury curtailed his involvement, Broad settled into a short length by default to assist James Anderson at the other end, who looked England’s likeliest source of wickets with his fuller swinging approach.It did not work on that occasion, as Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin repelled the threat in a memorable triple-century stand, but with figures of 0 for 72 in 33 overs, Broad at least kept the tempo of their innings in check. This summer, however, it’s been a different story. On England’s more helpful seaming wickets, Broad and his team-mates have hounded their Indian opponents relentlessly, and prevented them from exceeding 300 in any one of their eight innings.’The lads are very proud of that spiky gold thing we have got in the changing room’ – Broad celebrates with Matt Prior•Getty Images”It has been a very special summer,” said Broad. “India came here and we were very aware of the talent they had, especially in their batting unit. The bowlers were very clued up and did a lot of work before the series, about where we wanted to bowl at these guys. There is a lot of footage because they have played so much cricket, so we had a meeting before the Lord’s Test about how we wanted to bowl at them, and looking back over the series, those plans worked very well.”A lot of credit goes to the guys who came up with those plans, but also to the bowlers who executed them. When you look at the whole series, the over-riding feeling is a huge amount of pride, for firstly way we have batted and scored the amount of runs we have, and then the way we have backed that up with the ball.”India arrived in England boasting one of the most legendary batting line-ups in the history of Test cricket, with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the middle order, and Virender Sehwag belatedly joining the tour for the third Test at Edgbaston. However, with the exception of Dravid, who was outstanding in racking up three hundreds in the four Tests, England dominated the remainder of the line-up, with Tendulkar’s 91 on the final day of the series being their only other score of note.”Our job is to get the big players out,” said Broad. “We know there are key players in any Test team – the likes of Ponting, Clarke, Tendulkar and Dravid – and you have got to hunt for them in a pack. If you get them it does have an impact on the whole side. We kept Sachin pretty quiet throughout the series, because we held our plans to him. We did not let him get off to flyers. We did not bowl magic deliveries to him. We just held our nerve and our length to keep to disciplined areas.”England’s ascent to the No. 1 Test side in the world was confirmed after their innings-and-242-run victory at Edgbaston, but the feat was brought home to the players when they were presented with the ICC Test Mace in the aftermath of the series whitewash at The Oval. With that initial challenge now complete, England’s aim is to maintain their status as the best team in the world, but Broad is sure that the players have it in them to remain grounded – just as they did when they regained the Ashes at the same venue two years ago.”The way to do it is to set new goals and refocus your mind,” said Broad. “We will do that as a Test team come January when a whole new journey will take place. We have got to be proud and stay in the moment now with this, because it has been such an achievement to be best in the world and the lads are very proud of that spiky gold thing we have got in the changing room.”You will have noticed over the big series in recent months, that they were described as stepping stones to being the best team in the world,” he said. “Now we are here we need to take a lot of satisfaction from that, and you can tell by the crowds and the reaction we have had that everyone is proud of us. But come January, we will have to set ourselves for another long journey to remain the best in the world.”In the immediate future, Broad’s emphasis is about to switch to the shorter form of the game. After a rest for the trip to Ireland this week, he will resume his tenure as England captain in the one-off Twenty20 against India at Old Trafford on August 31, before fronting up for five ODIs against the current World Champions, who are sure to be a chastened side after their drubbing in the Tests.After their Ashes successes in 2009 and 2010-11, England showed an immediate dropping-off of form for the subsequent one-day series – which, in the latter case, continued into the World Cup. Broad is aware of the dangers of switching formats so soon after a triumph of this magnitude, but believes that this time, the squad will be mentally prepared for the challenge.”It was an After the Lord Mayor’s Show-type of thing and that is something we need to be aware of,” he said. “We need to make sure we are fully focussed on starting afresh, and hitting the ground running because we know how dangerous India are in all formats of the game. They are world champions in the one-day stuff and that is the next challenge for as an England team, to follow this success up with success in one-day cricket.”