da prosport bet： The West Indies can be the making of a quick bowler and England’s current tour of the Caribbean is shaping as a key moment in Stuart Broad’s career
da lvbet： Andrew McGlashan22-Feb-2009
Broad wants to follow in the footsteps of Angus Fraser, who enjoyed three productive tours between 1989-90 and 1998 © PA Photos
The West Indies can be the making of a quick bowler. Perhaps the best example is Glenn McGrath, who arrived for Australia’s 1995 tour down the pecking order but was suddenly thrust up the pack after injuries to Craig McDermott and Damien Fleming. He finished with 17 wickets in the series and never looked back.Stuart Broad has drawn comparisons with McGrath during the early stages of his career and, although he shouldn’t be burdened with the pressure of repeating those great statistics, England’s current tour of the Caribbean is shaping as a key moment in Broad’s career.He arrived with murmurings over his incisiveness at the Test level, with an average in the mid-40s and a mediocre strike-rate. However, two matches into the series he has nine wickets, including a maiden five-wicket haul in Kingston which became a forgotten success in the mayhem that followed. Broad said he had targeted this West Indies trip as an opportunity to make his mark and wants to follow in the footsteps of Angus Fraser, who enjoyed three productive tours between 1989-90 and 1998.”You never stop developing as a bowler,” Broad said. “I’ve learnt a hell of a lot in the last two years of international cricket. I’m delighted to have picked up some wickets at the start of this series. It’s the sort of place I’d looked at before I came as not having to bowl at 87-88mph, but looked at the likes of Angus Fraser who just ran it back into off stump and got a lot of wickets here.”I came here with quite a clear plan. I didn’t want to have too attacking a field, it was more about going at two-and-a-half, three an over, keeping it tight and I’m pleased with how it’s gone in the first two Tests,” he added. “Obviously you have to adapt to each new pitch, but most in the Caribbean now are quite subcontinent-like and you have to bowl straight.”Broad talks with exceptional common sense, not least over his withdrawal from the IPL auction, and is very clear about what he wants to achieve in the longer term. He doesn’t believe that express pace is a fundamental requirement in troubling top-class international batsman.”People talk about the 90mph mark, but all through my development as a bowler I’ve always admired the likes of McGrath, Pollock and now Stuart Clark who are quick enough, they rush you, but they are just ruthless with there discipline and don’t give you anything,” he said. “I know when I’m batting that if I’m not getting anything to score off I’m in a lot more danger than someone bowling at 90mph but giving fours away.”He was also wise in his assessment of the agonising draw at the ARG which left England still 1-0 down in the series. “We have to be brutally honest with ourselves, we should have won that Test,” he said. “However many positives you can take out of it, it was very disappointing not take the win. We had 140 overs, that should have been enough. We are in the environment where that has been and gone and we have to accept it.”Broad’s short-term role will be to help fill in for the absence of Andrew Flintoff, who has been ruled out of the fourth Test in Barbados. Broad was promoted to the new-ball role when Flintoff went lame in Antigua, but it is his ability with the bat that makes his position even more important. His Test average stands at 28.13 with three half-centuries and he battled fluently in the first innings at the ARG for 44.People talk about the 90mph mark, but all through my development as a bowler I’ve always admired the likes of McGrath, Pollock and now Stuart Clark who are quick enough, they rush you, but they are just ruthless with there discipline and don’t give you anything”It’s important to always push yourself and reach the next level. It’s an aim of mine to move up the batting order, but at the moment I’ve targeted the No. 8 spot to nail down,” Broad said. “I’ve scored a few handy runs but not the sort you need to score at No. 6. I feel I can push on and get hundreds in the future although I certainly don’t think I’m anywhere near a No. 6 of No. 7 at the moment.”He may not feel he is quite ready to move further up the order, but it is one option the selectors will have to consider with England needing to win back-to-back Tests to take the series. The workload on a five-man attack in the series to date has been heavy, so it would be a risk to take just four frontline bowlers into a Test. England have had major problems taking 20 wickets since they won the Ashes in 2005; the ARG was their 43rd Test since then (including the 10-ball affair) and they have bowled a side out twice on just 14 occasions.”That’s something the hierarchy will have to decide,” Broad said. “We have a wicketkeeper [Matt Prior] who is scoring good runs at the moment and would feel confident batting at six. If they feel that’s the way to go, with five bowlers to win a Test, I’d certainly feel very comfortable batting seven and making a contribution.”Broad has faced a variety of challenges head-on in his young career and isn’t easily fazed. This tour could be the making of him in more ways than one.
