Stuart Broad: “Give everything to this week, train hard and if I make the team it will all be on that pitch”; watch the first test between England and New Zealand live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 10am on Thursday
Stuart Broad says he is ready to give his “heart and soul” for England and leave it all on the pitch if he is selected for the first test against New Zealand at Lord’s on Thursday.
Broad and James Anderson were left out of England’s most recent Test series, at the West Indies in March, despite sharing a combined 1,177 Test wickets between them.
But the 35-year-old told reporters on Tuesday that despite the omission, he was able to maintain a positive mindset after talks with Nottinghamshire psychologist Chris Marshall.
“Not at all,” Broad said when asked if he feared for his future on the test. “I still felt like I had a lot to offer the team.
“As a professional sportsman, if you don’t think you’re one of the best bowlers in the country, then you’re full, right? My mindset was still that I was in the best bowling group, particularly in England.
“Missing the West Indies was disappointing. But my approach was to take a break from March, relax and get really fresh, eager to play and come back with Notts ready to attack at the right time.”
“I’ve actually done a lot of work with Chris Marshall, the psychologist at Notts, on my way of thinking, because I think that’s the most important thing for me going forward.
“Instead of spending the summer thinking, ‘I really want to make sure I’m fit for the second round of the South Africa series’, life doesn’t work like that.
“It’s very much about being grateful for what I have this week, giving my heart and soul for this week, and then if I’m a little stiff and sore next week or I don’t play, they want to give a new bowler. some experience, then great.
“Give everything for this week, train hard and, if I make the team, everything will be on that field.
“I told Jimmy, whether we go 0-100 or 5-30, performance doesn’t matter at the moment, it’s about us giving everything to the England shirt and the environment.
“We’re good enough that the results will stand on their own in the long run anyway.”
Broad added: “I feel like I’m bowling well and I’m ready to make an impact in England by winning games again.”
Thursday’s game against reigning World Test champions New Zealand is the first of a new era with Ben Stokes as captain and former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum as head coach.
speaking to sky sportsBroad said: “There is a sense of enthusiasm in the group.
“We know that Brendon has had incredible success as a player and leader in New Zealand. He has dedicated himself to coaching and has a very clear mindset about how he wants cricket to be played.”
“You can see he had a big stamp on New Zealand cricket and I hope he can have that stamp on English cricket.
“We all went to St George’s Park last week for a couple of days, got together, had a team meal that night, and there is plenty of energy and focus to start a busy international summer.”
Beyond the early retirements of Broad and Anderson, the England team is not much different from the one that lost 1-0 to the West Indies in the Caribbean.
Yorkshire batsman Harry Brook and Durham fast bowler Matt Potts were called up for the first time, the latter in contention to make his Test debut and fill one of the bowling stalls at Lord’s, but the rest of the team is quite familiar.
Former England captain Michael Atherton said sky sports it is understandable that McCullum does not want to “break everything”; immediately.
“The [McCullum] don’t really know enough about English cricket yet,” Atherton said. on the wings
“You wouldn’t expect to see dramatic changes initially, but there could be a little more clarity on the direction from above.
