"I've gone from being talked about as a diminishing cricketer being eased out to a reinvented cricketer with more to offer"
Wednesday 18 September 2019 07:42, UK
A "reinvented" Stuart Broad says he has a lot of Test cricket left in him after starring for England in the drawn Ashes series.
The 33-year-old chalked up 23 wickets against Australia this summer, including David Warner seven times, as he led the attack in the absence of the injured James Anderson.
Broad did not play in Sri Lanka before Christmas and was also left out of the opening Test against West Indies in January but says those breaks allowed him to fine-tune his game.
"I've been very pleased with how it has gone this summer," said Broad, who now has 467 wickets in 132 Tests.
"I've gone from being talked about as a diminishing cricketer being eased out to a reinvented cricketer with more to offer.
"At 33 years old, that is a good place to be. All the hard work has been worth it. Fate allowed me to have the time during the winter to work on things.
"In Sri Lanka I didn't play too much and I was able to work on a new run-up and stuff like my attacking intent which has paid dividends.
"I've not been as attacking in my areas, and making batsmen play as much as I have for many years.
"We talk about setting the tone with the new ball and I felt that this has been my best summer for a long time in terms of doing that with the new ball.
"I felt a responsibility to lead that first 10 overs and I've had great energy running in. I felt like the mindset of trying to hit the stumps really paid off."
Broad contributed hugely to Warner scoring just 95 runs in the Ashes in 10 innings - the worst record of any batsman ever to open as many times in a single Test series.
But the seamer was left ruing the fact England could not remove Steve Smith so cheaply, with the 30-year-old racking up 774 runs and only being dismissed below 50 once - by Broad at The Oval.
"I had an added responsibility to try and get their big players out and that's why I did a lot of planning on Warner," added Broad.
"I had to go fuller at him, I had to try and hit his stumps and I had to try and forget about his outside edge.
"I never dreamt that I would have the success against him that I've had. But, of course, that is just in this series.
"If we put our numbers together over the course of our careers, with how much we have played against each other, I think they would be quite even.
"They had one batsman [Smith] who has been a 15 out of 10 and we've not had that, which has been a huge difference.
"We would have really liked to win the series but if we sit down in a week's time without the emotion, it is probably the right result."
Watch England's tour of New Zealand, which features five T20Is and two Tests, live on Sky Sports Cricket in October, November and December.
