What to do with Broad?

By Will 3 months ago Leave a comment on this post

I’m in a cafe and have just had a deep discussion with a friend about Stuart Broad, who he advocates to be the unlucky man to miss out for the third Test. No way. Yes, he is taking his wickets at nearly 50, but has shown enough promise with the ball that we have to stick with him. His 50 yesterday was laden with class, too, and makes ambrose’s elevation to No.6 a less worrying proposition. Pattinson should go, sidebottom returns. And south africa will doubtless bottle it now that they’ve stolen a series lead.

What would you do for Edgbaston?

Tags: stuart-broad |

Comments to “What to do with Broad?” Spigot wrote:
July 22nd, 2008 at 1.21 pm

Well it’s down to deciding what Broad’s, or rather any 4 man attack bowler’s, criteria for selection instead of taking what each man can do and wrapping the requirements around it.

If you project forward with broad I can see him being a rejected nothing after being used and abused and cast aside after burning out. Whilst he’s clearly an in form batsman compared to most of the entire squad, those runs are meant to be an added bonus and as soon as they aren’t treated like one his bowling becomes the second string without a long term return to a 5 man attack, and he ends up with a wishy washy skillset and finishing off his prime years in county.

He’s not bowling amazingly well, and a bit of rest and whatnot seems like a good idea, in line with a genuinely open minded rotation. If he’s not trashed around he’ll hopefully add an extra 5mph in the next 2 years and be allowed to stay up after 8pm.

Without trying to be a grownup I’m always saying he should be given a test place for the next year without question (and be told that so he knows he’s safe) to let him develop at this level, but with my second sprog on the way I’m trying to be more responsible and think that he’ll be fine to miss a few as long as it’s clearly for the right reasons.

Everything would be much simpler with him average 14 rather than 42.

Mav wrote:
July 22nd, 2008 at 3.06 pm

I would get rid of Broad and bring in Jones, but what we really need is a Gus Frazer type who can plug up one end and allow the impact bowlers to go full tilt for wickets.

IMHO

Tybalt wrote:
July 22nd, 2008 at 7.31 pm

Can I dump Michael Vaughan? Pretty pretty please? Just for now, perhaps?

I absolutely do want Vaughan in the side, but I want him at his best as both captain and batsman and I don’t think he’s been at his best in either way. I do think that leadership, strong aggressive leadership in the field, has been lacking in the first two Tests and to be honest I thought Vaughan’s mettle was lacking against New Zealand as well.

Collingwood is not the answer in my view and he needs to make a bagful of runs in county cricket to get his mojo back. There are two perfectly good Test captains in the side right now and I would be happy to look to either Strauss or Flintoff to lead the side. I would be happiest with a side captained by Flintoff with the strict instruction to manage KP as strictly as possible. Pietersen throwing his wicket away with indecisiveness was the blow that definitively lost the Test - a repeat must be avoided.

I thought Pattinson played very well for a deubtant - played within himself, bowled sensibly, showed me something with the bat. The one thing he did wrong, I suppose, was to let the batsmen rotate the strike too much but he can’t help that as he lacks two yards of pace to be truly menacing.

I too want to keep Broad; I recognize the wickets have not been there but he has good bounce and, at times, good pace. He does need to be rested eventually, and there are an increasing number of bowlers lining up. Simon Jones unquestionably deserves a shot at returning. So I would unhesitatingly acquiesce to allowing Jones to come back at the expense of Broad.

Finally there is the question of Anderson. I agree with Mav that a Fraser type is what is needed, and with Jones and Sidebottom as wicket-taking swing bowlers would Anderson be as necessary in the side? I like Anderson and would like to see him as part of the regular England rotation. If Anderson were to go out, who should replace him?

Harmison and Hoggard are the two other fast bowlers who have a strong claim on a place. Both were sent back to county cricket with the orders to take hatfuls of wickets and generally get their groove back. Hoggard has been dismissed somewhat unfairly perhaps; Harmison had exhausted everyone’s patience. And Hoggy is exactly the kind of tie-an-end-down fast-medium bowler that is needed.

So I’d go with Harmison. Heh. He’s the leading wicket-taker in county cricket. He’s been very consistent. He’s been bowling a boatload of overs and has, despite that, been quite economical. Harmison also gives another genuine all-the-time threat. Needing a win, I think he’s the way to go.

To replace Vaughan as a batsman, I would be tempted to recall Matt Prior, who I would want to recall at the wicketkeeping position in both teams by the beginning of the next Test series (India in November) at the latest. Instead, I might play a hunch and give a Test debut to Lancashire’s Paul Horton, who I think is a good player of fast bowling and a very consistent batsman. Rather than Vaughan’s feast-or-more-likely-famine, we need someone who will be as likely as not to get 60-odd. I’d bat Horton at number three.

So my (rather eccentric) lineup :

Strauss
Cook
Horton
Pietersen
Bell
Ambrose (wk)
Flintoff (capt)
Sidebottom
Jones
Harmison
Panesar

If England were leading the series 1-0 instead of losing 1-0, I would approach this totally differently. The side I named above is a side to try to win a test, not not to lose one. Up 1-0, I’d be tempted to keep Broad and Vaughan, call in Dmitri Mascarenhas to replace Anderson, and bring Prior in immediately for Ambrose. Mascarenhas, who is a very good bowler at keeping it tight, would enable the side to bat down to nine and hopefully play all day and night.

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan (capt)
Pietersen
Bell
Prior (wk)
Flintoff
Mascarenhas
Broad
Sidebottom
Panesar

Anyway, I like that first lineup much better, as an aggressive, strike-bowling-heavy lineup that will be needed to blast out the Saffers twice.

SteveH wrote:
July 22nd, 2008 at 9.38 pm

For what it’s worth I’d bring Prior back with Harmison. Strengthen the batting and give the bowling some pace to rough the South Africans up (or 3rd slip something to do!) It can’t be anymore risky than picking a complete unknown paceman! I’d hold fire with Sidebottom for another test at least.

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan (capt)
Pietersen
Bell
Prior (wk)
Flintoff
Broad
Harmison
Anderson
Panesar

SteveH wrote:
July 22nd, 2008 at 9.46 pm

PS. Sorry forgot we were talking about Broad … In other words I’d leave Broad where he is to support the senior bowlers not lead the attack. He’ll pick up wickets in that role, that average will drop and we’ll stop worrying about him and turn our attention to our inconsistent captain.

RobC wrote:
July 23rd, 2008 at 8.36 am

Having a young inexperienced player in the side such as Broad requires a good well established team to support him and nurture him. He definately shouldn’t be opening the bowling.

Broad is a huge potential talent but needs careful management. Therefore don’t pick unknowns. Keep a balanced consistent side around him and watch him blossom

Philip Oliver wrote:
July 23rd, 2008 at 8.59 am

Secondary skills are important - remember the Giles v Panesar debate - but he has to start taking wickets (or even start looking like taking wickets).

He of course has a long-term future with England, hopefully as a genuine all-rounder in a five man bowling attack, but he is not one of the best four seamers at the moment and should be the first to make way on that basis if changes are made.

However, I’m not sure Harmison, Jones or Tremlett would turn up at Edgbaston and run through the South Africans.

AdamC wrote:
July 23rd, 2008 at 11.18 am

South Africa have the measure of England’s bowling, so why not use Broad as a fifth bowler stroke batsman and shake up the whole attack to add a little aggression? 8 Batsmen, 5 bowlers and a specialist keeper? What do you think about this:

Cook
Strauss
Bell
Pietersen
Flintoff
Read
Broad
Bresnan
Jones
Harmison
Panesar

James wrote:
July 23rd, 2008 at 12.21 pm

The key is taking twenty wickets, if we don’t take twenty wickets we don’t win, simple as that. Therefore Broad’s runs, as fun and eloquent as they are, are fairly useless at the end of the day. I think a stint in county cricket for the rest of the summer and maybe the start of next summer if not all of it will make him a more improved bowler.

The bowler to really impress me this summer has been Jimmy Anderson, its been great to see him ditch that inconsistency tag! Think he is now firmly in the england set up, can see a good few years of central contracts for him.

Who to come in for Broad is a tough one. The way the Hog was dropped was very harsh and part of me would love to see him come back. Being a Durham fan though my slightly biased view would be for Harmison to come back, he was bowling at the 90mph mark in the twenty20 last night and his rythm was spot on. He could just be the man to come in for these next two tests. Not seen much of Jones this season but all reports suggest that he is getting back to his best which is good news for the next few years.

For the next test it would be nice to see Jimmy, Sid, Fred, Harmy, and Monty form the bowling attack.

Ambrose remains a worry with even his 35odd in the 2nd innings at Headingley looking a bit ropey and with Fred not on batting form we’d be going in with only 5 top batsmen. But if we don’t take twenty wickets we’ve got no chance!

Mav wrote:
July 23rd, 2008 at 1.43 pm

I think the only thing saving Broad his place right now is the only real replacement for him means the selectors admitting they were wrong.

If they bring in another Swing bowler along with Jimmy and Sidebottom then it’s a bit one dimensional.

Does anyone here think Harmy would survive in the ashes?

Sathnam Mann(Jatt Punjabi) wrote:
July 23rd, 2008 at 5.46 pm

Well,pace bowlers around the world would tell you,when you have a 20 year old quickie,he’s never going to get quicker by putting on weight of any kind.
All the quickest bowlers in the past & present have been lean & fit,barring fred flintoff who plays a game once an year.
In fact ,they never ever get quicker,they get injured/lose their ball movement skills in the quest to get quicker.So don’t expect this guy,Broad, to quicken up.
In any case, pace depends mainly on rhythm & how a bowlers feeling that day.
If I was in the english media or a fan i’d be smashing the ECB for paying attention to everything apart from their cricket.Now they want to send their 2nd string team to Pakistan for the Champs tropyh.With due respect to them,england is a second rate ODI /T-20 side & it’s laughable they want to send their ‘2nd string’ team.They ‘accidentally’ get srilanka to tour them exactly when the IPL is on.They’re concerned about the medical backup in the IPL,they want zim out & ireland,scotland in instead of Kenya,Namibia,Netherlands or the UAE.They oppose the referral system which even umpires have supported.I mean, its only for the obvious mistakes,why the problems??The drivel about 20-20 ,then the $20m rubbish, now this “new T-20″ EPL stuff.Why all the posturing about the IPL & T-20 earlier??They don’t let their guys play in the IPL.Just 2, maybe max 5 guys would have had a shot at playing in it anyways.They badger & bully poor bankrupt srilanka on their decision to allow their guys to play in theIPL.Use stupid lines like ‘remember, nation comes before money”.The genial lankans agree.They’d play 5 test series as long as the schedule isn’t made to deliberately clash with theIPL.Every1 worth his salt has stated the need for a window for the IPL.ECB won’t budge from its position.

I had mentioned before this series started on this blog that eng stood no chance against a spirited & intense side with the best test bowling attack in the world.
Maybe the BBC will stop calling this ‘the battle for 2nd spot in test cricket” very soon & start calling it “england’s battle to remain in the top 5 test teams in the world”.

Marcus wrote:
July 24th, 2008 at 12.50 am

Apparently Ryan Sidebottom increased his pace a bit, which is why he’s a better bowler now than he was five years ago. If Broad can’t improve on his pace, then he’s got a problem, as unless he learns to master either swing bowling or subtle seam movement he’s not going to be a prolific wicket-taker at Test level at his current pace.

glen l wrote:
August 5th, 2008 at 10.30 pm

yip they bottled!!! 2:0

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What to do with Broad?