There will be no explosions and no angry interviews should Brendon McCullum wander over to Stuart Broad at Edgbaston next week and tell him he will miss the start of the Ashes.
The all-new, different Broad, brimming with the enthusiasm of a teenager at England’s uber-positive style at 36, will simply offer his support to those picked in his place and bide his time until it is his turn to take the attack to Australia.
‘I feel really happy with how my cricket is and how life is,’ said Broad, back at Lord’s on Tuesday where he took his 20th five-wicket Test haul against Ireland last week.
‘I feel fit and fresh. Whether I play at Edgbaston, Lord’s, Headingley or wherever, I don’t mind. I love playing Australia and I play really well at all of the grounds.’
It was not always like that. Broad has long been the great competitor refusing to be written off, whether it was when former national selector Ed Smith was questioning his overseas record or when Andrew Strauss was apparently consigning him to history by leaving him and Jimmy Anderson out of England’s tour of the Caribbean last year.
Stuart Broad has previously shown his frustration at being left out of England’s best XI
Speaking at the launch of England cricket’s partnership with Laithwaites at Lord’s, Broad has insisted he will not be angry if he does not play in the first Test of the Ashes
The 36-year-old has thrown tantrums in the past when left out, but believes he’s now changed
Specifically, there have been some memorable Broad tantrums, like when he was left out in Barbados in favour of Sam Curran in 2019; when he took to Sky’s ‘diary room’ to contest his omission from the first behind closed doors Test against West Indies at the Ageas Bowl a year later – and when he was left out of the first Test of the last ill-fated Ashes in Brisbane. Perhaps it was no coincidence that England lost all three of those games.
‘I’ve definitely changed and in a good way,’ said Broad at the launch of Laithwaites partnership with England cricket. ‘There won’t be any interviews like at the Ageas Bowl. I was raging at Brisbane too. But I’m very comfortable whether I play in the first, second, third, fourth or fifth Tests this year. Just as long as I strike at some stage.’
The key, according to Broad, is that being left out of this England team does not feel like being dropped. ‘If you don’t play at Edgbaston it doesn’t mean you won’t play at Lord’s,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t feel like a closed shop. Ultimately I’m just really enjoying being around this group. It’s a really addictive environment. It’s one in, all in.’
Before the series ending injury to Jack Leach it did seem that either Broad or Mark Wood would have to miss out in Birmingham a week on Friday, with Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson certain to play as long as they are fully fit.
That might still be the case if Stokes and McCullum decide to throw Moeen Ali, if and when he is confirmed as Leach’s replacement, straight in. But Leach’s misfortune does give them the opportunity to go with four seamers, with Joe Root doing the spin bowling.
Whatever line-up England choose, it would be folly for them to leave out Broad, not least because of his outstanding record in the last home Ashes against David Warner.
Broad has thrived under Ben Stokes over the past 12 months, but is still not guaranteed to play in the First Test at Edgbaston next week
He has claimed he will take the decision on whether he plays or not in his stride, and will make sure he is ready to shine in the Ashes at some point this summer
Broad, who has relished talking ahead of this Ashes almost as much as playing, not least when he wound up all Australia by telling Mail Sport the last Covid-affected Ashes should be void, had more words for his old sparring partner yesterday.
‘He said I was a good bloke, did you see that?’ smiled Broad. ‘I have loved every bit of our, I don’t know if it’s a rivalry but certainly a great battle, and I’ve had to work very hard over a period of time to expose any chink in his armour because he’s been so dangerous against me. I’ve no doubt he’ll have been thinking about how to counter 2019.’
There was just time for one more little dig at the old enemy when Broad was asked who he would like to win today’s World Test Championship final between Australia and India. ‘I don’t want to upset any more Aussies,’ he insisted. ‘I’d just like it to be a hard fought match where India do really well. Let’s see Cheteshwar Pujara book himself in nicely and then let’s see a great hundred for Virat Kohli – we all love to see him scoring runs.’
No, Stuart, that won’t upset them….
Stuart Broad was speaking at the launch of wine merchant Laithwaites partnership with England Cricket. For exclusive offers on great wines this summer go to laithwaites.co.uk
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