While England has already secured their Test series on the Sri Lankan soil for the first time since 2001, the senior English pacer Stuart Broad has admitted that he couldn’t make this kind of big difference as the condition is not suitable for him.
Though the third and final Test of the series is yet be played, starting on Friday (November 23), the visitors England has already taken the 2-0 lead of the series and secured the series too.
The 32-year-old English pacer Stuart Broad feels happy to be benched in this series as he feels that he couldn’t make a big effect for his team as the condition isn’t suitable for him.
Broad told Sky Sports, “We’ve seen in the first two Test matches the amount of output the seamers have had and the amount of spin the spinners have been getting. I don’t think I’d have made a particularly big difference to this England side in these conditions, to be perfectly honest.
“It’s never easy not playing but it is easier when you can honestly think it’s probably the right decision and if you were at the top of the tree it’s the decision you’d make.
“Chris Woakes and I were sat mixing the drinks and Jimmy was bowling a lovely spell, the bowler who probably moves it most of any bowler in the world and it wasn’t really moving. Woaksey and I just said, ‘well, if he’s not moving it then we’d have been useless on this, wouldn’t we?’”
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As England has already secured their first away Test series victory since 2016, Broad claims that he is enjoying this Sri Lanka tour and working very hard on his fitness.
Broad said, “I’ve said whether I play in Sri Lanka or not, I was delighted to be on the tour because it would be easy to say, ‘ah he doesn’t want to come and mix the drinks’ but I do, I want to be part of this England squad and why not leave Sri Lanka in a better place than when you arrived?
“I’ve worked very hard on my fitness, I’m feeling fresh, I’m feeling fit and I’ve found some technical stuff that’s really improving me. So far, so good really.”
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The experienced English pacer isn’t worried whether he is playing or not, rather than he is looking out to improve himself as a cricketer.
Broad said, “I don’t think that me not playing in Galle or Kandy will affect whether I play against Australia next summer. I don’t think that’s overly relevant really. You’ve got to be ready to play the next Test because you never know what will happen but also, why not try and improve yourself as a cricketer?”
