England’s veteran pacer Stuart Broad reckons the home team has to attack even more in the second Ashes Test match against Australia. England lost the opening Test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham by two wickets but played aggressive cricket right throughout the game.
England skipper Ben Stokes decided to declare at 393-8 despite having a well-settled Joe Root, who was batting unbeaten on 118, at the crease. Furthermore, England batters scored at a brisk pace whereas Stokes also had attacking fields.
On the other hand, Stuart Broad was the pick of the England’s seamers. The lanky pacer returned with figures of 3-68 in the first innings and then took 3-64 in the second dig.
However, Broad’s teammate James Anderson had an off-Test match as he could take a solitary wicket.
“Not to make excuses for him (James Anderson), but there was no swing and no seam, so conditions didn’t suit him in Birmingham and we all know his quality. He is a class act and we know Jimmy will have a big impact in this series,” wrote Broad for Daily Mail.
Broad feels they were close to taking a 1-0 lead in the Ashes and revealed they will adopt an even more attacking approach in the second game.
“We came so close to taking a 1-0 Ashes lead in Birmingham, but head to Lord’s trailing Australia. So what do we need to do differently this week? Attack even more. At the end of that enthralling first Test, the changing room was gutted to start with and that’s quite natural — that’s how it should be when you’ve lost,” Broad added.
Moreover, Moeen Ali suffered a finger injury in the opening Test upon his return to Test cricket. Rehan Ahmed has been called as cover for the all-rounder.
“Time is going to be quite important for Moeen too, because it’s quite a decent gouge on his spinning finger and that’s why Rehan Ahmed has been called up as cover. It was always going to be a tough ask for Moeen, playing Twenty20 cricket solidly for a long period, bowling two to three overs at a time and then suddenly banging up 47,” Broad added.
The second Ashes Test will be played at Lord’s, from June 28 onwards.
