LONDON, (Reuters) – Stuart Broad, as befits the son of former England opener Chris, has always looked a cricketer of the highest pedigree.
An Ashes series against Australia starting next week will be the perfect opportunity for potential to be translated into consistent achievement with both bat and ball.
After 17 tests, Broad averages 31.35 with the bat which gives a hint of the ability good judges predict will make him into a test class all-rounder.
But his 46 wickets have cost an expensive 37.95 runs each and it is in this area the selectors will expect a marked improvement as England strive to regain the Ashes surrendered so tamely in Australia two years ago.
Broad, still only 23, saw himself primarily as a left-handed batsman like his father before he had a sudden growth surge and turned himself into a pace bowler.
He was selected for the England A side in the West Indies at the age of 19 as a replacement for James Anderson, his new ball partner now in the national side.
Broad made his England debut in Sri Lanka in 2007 then cemented his place in the side on the following tour of New Zealand where two of the regular pace attack, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, lost form.
He made an immediate impression with his stylish late-order batting and bowled with pace as well as proving an athletic and versatile fielder.
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
For a period in his early test career Broad experimented with a more open action, which may have helped avoid the back injuries that plague so many modern fast bowlers but meant he moved the ball less. He can also be expensive even when bowling well.
But on the tour of the Caribbean this year he impressed with his determination and aggression on pitches without a semblance of life and he has reverted to his natural action. He is now among the first names pencilled into the England side.
At an England media day this week, Broad said he had made his first class debut for Leicestershire four years ago when England regained the Ashes after 16 barren years.
“It was a great summer to start playing professional cricket and it inspired me to bigger and better things and gave me the real excitement to push and play for England,” he told reporters.
“It’s all moved on very quickly for me but it will be a fantastic opportunity. Hopefully we can play the same sort of cricket as 05, that’s why it was so famous. There was always something going on.
“The key in that series is the ball moved off the straight and the wickets offered a little for the bowlers. Hopefully the grounds will be similar.
“No one wants to see slow and low wickets. In the Caribbean we played on three or four of those and it was turgid to play in and watch.”
Broad, who played club cricket near Melbourne, said he had learned a lot from his time in Australia.
“I had a feisty six months there after leaving school. It was aggressive and it taught me a lot,” he said.
“But I’ve never played against Australia and neither have a lot of boys in the dressing room. It’s going to be new for both sides with a lot of players who haven’t experience what an Ashes summer is like. They will be fresh and free-minded.”
