Stuart Broad returns to scene of Test debut as England target Sri Lanka whitewash

Golden oldie: Stuart Broad
Getty Images
Chris Stocks22 November 2018

Stuart Broad will come back to where it all started when the final Test against Sri Lanka gets underway at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Friday.

It is 11 years since a 21-year-old Broad made his Test debut at this famous old ground in Colombo, taking one for 95 as an England team captained by Michael Vaughan played out a draw.

Broad is the only survivor from an XI that also contained, among others, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar.

How long before his time is up, too, has become a relevant question during a tour that saw the 32-year-old dropped for the first time in six years when he sat out England’s wins in the first two Tests, at Galle and Kandy.

With 123 caps and 433 Test wickets, only James Anderson, who has been rested in Colombo to accommodate Broad, stands ahead of him in England’s all-time list of wicket-takers.

Yet despite his senior status, he may have to get used to being left out in future away from the home, especially as England’s next tour takes them to the West Indies, where conditions are expected to be similar to here.

England captain Joe Root took the opportunity on the eve of this Test to state how valuable both Broad and Anderson are to the team’s future — especially with one eye on next summer’s home Ashes, a series where Broad has made his reputation as a bowler.

But there was also a hint that Broad’s time as an automatic pick in all conditions is now over.

Asked if Broad still had a big part to play for this team, Root said: “Yes, definitely. You look at that experience he brings and his record in English conditions and what he’s capable of there is invaluable.

“He’s still one of England’s best bowlers, I do genuinely believe that. I think we’ve had to be quite cute and smart about exploiting these conditions here and we’ll have to do exactly the same later on in the winter in the West Indies.

“I’m very aware about how talented the group is and how talented our two senior guys are. We generally get excited about pushing people into retirement but those two in particular we’ve got to make the most of them when we can.

“We’ve got to be smart in managing them and seeing how long they can go for because they’re both at the top of their game, bowling fantastically well and both have that desire to improve and get better so as far as I’m concerned we want to get the most out of them while we can.”

Speaking last week during England’s victory in the Second Test in Kandy, Broad admitted he knew he might struggle in the spin-friendly conditions that have confronted the tourists so far in Sri Lanka.

“I don’t think I’d have made a particularly big difference to this England side in these conditions, to be perfectly honest,” said Broad. “Chris Woakes and I were sat mixing the drinks yesterday and Jimmy was bowling a lovely spell, the bowler who probably moves it most of any bowler in the world and it wasn’t really moving.

“Woakesy and I just said, ‘well, if he’s not moving it then we’d have been useless on this, wouldn’t we?’

“You’re always desperate to play and it’s disappointing when you’re not in the side but it’s the right decision. I don’t think that me not playing in Galle or Kandy will affect whether I play against Australia next summer. I don’t think that’s overly relevant really.

“You’ve got to get ready to play the next Test because you never know what will happen but also, why not try and improve yourself as a cricketer?

“I’ve said whether I play in Sri Lanka or not, I was delighted to be on the tour because it would be easy to say ‘ah, he doesn’t want to come and mix the drinks’ but I do. I want to be part of this England squad and why not leave Sri Lanka in a better place than when you arrived?”

Broad, whose attitude was praised by coach Trevor Bayliss after the win in Kandy, will get his chance in this final Test on a pitch that promises to also offer very little for the seamers. However, Root is backing Broad to make an impact.

“I think our seamers have done a fantastic job when they’ve had the opportunity,” he said.

“Look at Jimmy — in the spells when he has bowled he has created a lot of pressure. That can be overlooked on occasions.

“Stuart’s more than capable of doing that as well and if we can take two or three early wickets with seam that’d be a massive bonus.

“You’d like to think he could do that. He’s got an opportunity to play in this game and hopefully he can do some damage.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in