"I think we'd sacrifice a few runs for the chance to have that second new ball, for sure."
Monday 20 July 2020 10:23, UK
Stuart Broad says England may gamble on the final morning to ensure they get two new balls later in the day as they bid to square the Test series against West Indies.
Broad took three wickets as England bowled the tourists out for 287 at Old Trafford to maintain their hopes of victory in the second of the three-Test series, live on Sky Sports Cricket.
The home side resume on Monday with an overall lead of 219 and Broad feels they need to risk an early declaration to give themselves enough overs to bowl out West Indies - who lead the series 1-0 - for a second time.
With a total of 98 overs scheduled for Monday, that scenario could mean England set a target after less than an hour's play and open the door to the possibility of defeat.
"We need to set it up in the first 45 minutes to an hour," Broad told Sky Sports. "A dream world (would be) to try and get two new balls because we've seen the new ball has behaved slightly different on this pitch.
"But we've given ourselves a chance of winning this game, which is a great position to be in and I probably would (risk it).
"We've not really had those chats about where we want to be runs-wise, but I think the second new ball is going to be quite important, even if it's for four, five or six overs. If West Indies were seven down with that second new ball, you'd feel it would give you a chance.
"Wth a bit of short-pitched bowling you can stop the scoring quite quickly, with big square boundaries and windy conditions, so I think we'd sacrifice a few runs for the chance to have that second new ball, for sure."
Broad, who was controversially left out for England's four-wicket defeat in the first Test at the Ageas Bowl, before returning to the line-up at Old Trafford, took a while to hit his straps.
But the seamer's three-wicket burst after tea, when he removed half-centurion Shamarh Brooks, followed by Jermaine Blackwood and Shane Dowrich in quick succession, put his side back in the ascendancy as West Indies collapsed from 242-4.
"I think all of us were finding our feet a little bit," added Broad. "That first spell felt an little bit foreign and I was probably a bit careful with my action, run-up and everything.
"Coming around the wicket and bowling a few bouncers freed me up a little bit - it got me through my action and after tea I decided I was going to charge in, pick my knees up, and didn't care what length I was going to bowl.
"I just thought I'd hold the seam, try and wobble it and whack it into the pitch as hard as I could and I think my line became more natural then. So when that second new ball came, I found the right tempo.
"I bet everybody thought walking into tea it was a bore draw, that this game was going nowhere. Then something sparked into life after tea.
"I really enjoyed that spell - that's where I'm at my best, when it's time to make something happen and there's encouragement from the pitch."
On his recall for the second Test, Broad added: "I don't think there's any point to prove. I genuinely didn't feel like I had to prove anyone wrong.
"I've done all that talking on the field, but I felt quietly - or maybe not that quietly - that when I got the chance again I needed to be in the best place to perform."
Watch day five of the second #raisethebat Test between England and West Indies live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.30am on Monday.
