England’s two all-time leading wicket-takers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were controversially left out of the squad that lost the three-match Test series to West Indies by 1-0 earlier this year.
England’s two all-time leading wicket-takers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were controversially left out of the squad that lost the three-match Test series to West Indies by 1-0 earlier this year.
The veteran pacer Stuart Broad has vowed to give his “heart and soul” on the field of Lords and he is ambitious that he would earn his Test recall at the field this week.
But now the duo has the chance to earn their comeback for the first of the three-match Test series against the World Test champion New Zealand at Lord’s, starting on Thursday in what will be Ben Stokes’s first match after being appointed as a permanent England captain following the resignation of Joe Root.
Stuart Broad has picked up 537 wickets in his 152 matches Test career and says that he eagerly waiting for his return to England as if he is making his Test debut.
Asked if there were any scars from being dropped by England, he told reporters at Lord’s:
“Not at all, I’m fine… I’m going in with the mindset to attack each week and leave my heart and soul on the field.
“I’m taking my mindset back to as though I’ve played zero Test cricket and have zero experience. You don’t look too far ahead when you make your Test debut; you’re just excited to play the next game.
“I just want to feel fresh and attack the strategy at Lord’s, leave my heart and soul on this field, and move on.”
He added:
“I’ve gone away completely from looking at what’s going to happen in August or November. I can’t control that, it’s too far away. I’m just going to give everything for one week of the Test match, try and win that week, learn from it and move on to the next one.
“That could be a really good mindset for the team as well because if we start looking and planning too far ahead you can lose that focus on what is right in front of you. Right now we have the World Test champions at our home.”
After replacing the new skipper, England has also added a new Test coach in the former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, who is leading England with a terrible history of one win in 17 matches.
“It was a big change in the leadership above the team’s head and there are really good guys there and we are looking forward to getting moving on the pitch,”
said Broad.
For Broad, a Test recall would be a couple of memorable days in London after the Nottingham Forest fan saw the club promoted to football’s Premier League with victory in the play-off final at Wembley last weekend.
“I am flying, I am just excited to be around,”
said Broad.
“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 a great week.”
