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Stuart Broad backs England's bowlers for Twenty20

Stuart Broad has insisted that the England bowlers were right to skip the IPL to ensure they remain fresh for international duty despite criticism from Kevin Pietersen

Andrew McGlashan
Andrew McGlashan
15-Apr-2010
Stuart Broad is confident England's attack will be ready for the World Twenty20  •  Getty Images

Stuart Broad is confident England's attack will be ready for the World Twenty20  •  Getty Images

Stuart Broad has insisted England's bowlers were right to skip the IPL to ensure they remain fresh for international duty despite criticism from Kevin Pietersen that it will leave them playing catch-up at the World Twenty20 in West Indies.
Although five of England's squad for the tournament are currently in India -Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Michael Lumb and Ravi Bopara - they are all members of the top order while the bowlers have been resting tired or injured limbs after the winter.
Broad would have been likely to secure major interest from an IPL franchise but he took the decision to skip the tournament for the second time, with a view to his England commitments in the year ahead, which include the Ashes tour in November. James Anderson could probably have fetched an IPL contract if he so wished but missed the tour of Bangladesh to recover from the knee injury which troubled him in South Africa, while Tim Bresnan wasn't picked up at auction.
"I've been back bowling for two sessions and we've got warm-up matches [in West Indies] before the Twenty20," Broad said. "It would obviously have been good to have played a bit more Twenty20 cricket leading into the World Cup, but I thought I needed a bit of a rest and Jimmy had a bit of a niggle. I feel better for having the break ahead of a busy international summer and the winter."
However, Broad still aims to join the IPL at some point in his career, although if he maintains his stance of putting his international role first, it will prove hard to find time. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has said next year's tournament will start a few days after the World Cup finishes in April. "It's certainly something I'll look to do in the future because to improve as an England side the players will have to play a bit more," he said.
England's bowlers are being carefully managed at the start of the domestic season with Broad, who lost 4kgs during his Bangladesh exertions, still being rested - along with Graeme Swann - from Nottinghamshire duty, although Anderson is playing for Lancashire against Warwickshire this week before his workload is reassessed.
"It's a bit more hectic on your body as a fast bowler rather than a batsman," said Broad at the launch of the PCA's MVP rankings. "I know a lot of batsmen, when they are in form, just like to keep hitting balls, but as a bowler you can't bowl every day because you'll break down. There is a balance but we get looked after fantastically by all the medical staff to make sure we stay on the park."
When England's bowling unit heads out to West Indies they will be under the wing of a new coach after David Saker's appointment last week. So far the players have admitted not knowing much about him, but Broad hopes to tap into a little local knowledge from his Nottinghamshire (and former England) team-mate Darren Pattinson.
"Darren has worked with him at Victoria so I'll have a word with him," said Broad, who was yesterday named one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year. "I assume he's coming with us to the Twenty20 but I'm not sure. I'm looking forward to working with him, he comes with a really good reputation and some people have some fine words to say about him."
Broad's form and fitness will be key for England at the World Twenty20 as they aim to end their drought at global events. They remain the only one of the eight long-term international nations not to have won a trophy and Broad knows that needs to change.
"It's something we have talked about and we need to get on the board," he said. "That can start in the next couple of weeks, but we aren't going to put extra pressure on ourselves by thinking we haven't won these sorts of tournaments before. If we can get a good start and carry the momentum through it's a short tournament and you can go all the way."

Andrew McGlashan is assistant editor of Cricinfo