Yet again I’ve been proved totally wrong and the selectors proved totally right. I never actually called for Stuart Broad to be dropped, but I did think that Tim Bresnan deserved to play at Lord’s in his place and I thought Broad was very lucky to be retained in the side after some of his indifferent performances this summer.
Luckily I don’t pick the England team, the selectors, Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower do. They all backed Stuart Broad and yet again ‘Team England’ have been rewarded for showing loyalty and consistency.
Not only has Broad bowled really well, but he has also batted very well – and his runs haven’t been easy runs either, they have all counted and have had a massive influence on the outcome of both test matches to date.
England looked dead and buried at tea on Day 1 in this game, Broad’s 64 just about kept England in the game and as a result of that innings and his 6 wickets England are now in a position to win this test.
That’s 138 runs and 13 wickets from Broad so far in this series, he has also had a couple of easy catches go down off his bowling, so it could have been far better for him. I’m sure Tim Bresnan would have done a decent enough job if he had played at Lord’s, but credit has to go to the England management yet again for getting the big calls right.
If they could only sort out the ODI team (some people are never satisfied).
