England paceman Stuart Broad, who struggled with the ball throughout the Ashes 2017-18 in Australia, wants to be part of the next Ashes on home soil in 2019.
Steve Smith-led Australia side clinched the urn by winning the first three consecutive Ashes Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, and Broad said that the Kangaroos deserve to claim the Ashes title. Australia then completed a 4-0 series win by winning the fifth and final Test match in Sydney. Broad said England will rightly be favorites and will win back the urn in 2019 at home.
He also rubbishes claims of his retirement, saying he is aiming to be part of England’s squad in the next Ashes at home. The speedster further added that the Lions will be crucial in the next Ashes despite Australia’s dominance over the past six weeks, taking the series 4-0 against England.
In a column for the Daily Mail, Stuart Broad said, “It is not a sentiment reflected in the scoreline of this Ashes series, but I think we will rightly be favorites when Australia come over to us in 2019 – and I expect us to win. I definitely aim to be part of that and after this Test is over we start building towards that goal, putting in place plans to get the Ashes back.”
He further added, “We’ll have to see whether I get another chance to be a full part of a squad that wins Ashes on Australian soil, but if it doesn’t happen it won’t be a huge sadness.”
Commenting on England’s show in Australia, Broad said, “We have been competitive here for a lot of the time but we have not been good enough for long enough. Look at day one in this Test; we would have bossed the day completely if we had ended it three down. We looked set for 550, but they got a couple of late wickets, a bit of luck and it was hard from there. This team will learn from what has happened in the big moments, and when the 2019 Ashes series arrives in England, that knowledge will be crucial. I see this as a developing team moving forward and looking to be No1.”
He further added, “We held together fantastically under a lot of pressure when we could have cracked. For a young guy early in his captaincy career, Rooty has remained very honest and spoken really well in front of the guys. So I genuinely believe there is a lot of promise for the future.”
On being asked about Aussie skipper Smith, who has been one of most talking point throughout the Ashes, the England pacer said Steve, who scored 5 half-centuries and scored three centuries in his seven innings, is the best player in the world. He added, “There have been a lot of questions in the last two or three years over who the best player in the world is. ‘I think that has been answered by Steve Smith, with the Australia captain having raced to 6,000 Test runs. Much as we have been fed up with the sight of him, you have to tip your hat in his direction.”
The 31-year-old pacer further said, “He doesn’t change the tempo in his innings, he doesn’t get flustered or agitated. You feel that when he is out there he is booking in for a long innings and he has been relentless. He has a calm presence at the crease, as generally, the best players do.”
Broad concluded by saying, “He also has a calming influence on those batting with him. His technique can get a bit more frantic when there is movement and that is where you need to take advantage. But he has shown how it is done on these pitches and sometimes you have to say “Well played!”.”
