Veteran England pacer Stuart Broad on Monday (May 17) said he wouldn’t mind being excluded from the playing XI of any Test this summer, though, he expressed his desire to play all seven long-format games.
England will host New Zealand in two Tests next month, before taking on the Virat Kohli-led Indian team in five Tests in August-September.
Broad, who vented out his frustration after being left out from the team for the first Test against West Indies, expects better communication now that selector Ed Smith’s role has been abolished.
“Last year I was disgruntled because the selectors had said the first Test team of the summer will be our best team,” Broad told the British media.
"For someone who had been through the Ashes successfully, been through South Africa successfully and stayed fit, I felt it was my shirt. I felt I was in the best team. So to be told I suddenly wasn't in the best team with my record in England, that's what upset me," he added.
Broad took to Sky Sports to register his disappointment last year but he expects better communication this season.
“Is it realistic I'm going to play every Test? No. But if the communication is done well then you understand the reasons for it. You understand why you might miss certain games to be fit for other games. That along with building experience into different players," he said.
"If I had a choice I'd want to play all seven Tests. Part of the reason I don't play white ball cricket any more is so I'm fit and available for Test cricket and fresh when I'm needed. But if Chris Silverwood decides he needs to get experience into some players and have a look at a different line-up and it's explained in a good way… absolutely, I would understand."
Recalling the time when Ed Smith was the national selector, Stuart Broad said: “I think you can say it was a success in the sense that the team won games and a World Cup. And he brought some fine players through. But personally, from my point of view, we struggled a bit on the communication side and probably saw the game of cricket slightly differently.”
“A lot of people have bosses who don’t rate them as much as other people, and I think he was mine. He probably didn’t rate me as much as other players. That’s fine, but I kept trying to prove some selection decisions wrong.
“I really disagreed with getting left out in Barbados where it’s one of the best places to bowl as a tall fast bowler and there are a few occasions where I have felt a bit disgruntled and didn’t have the clarity of communication that I would like.”
(Inputs from ESPNCricinfo)
