"Our No 1 goal is entertainment. Winning is vitally important but if we can get kids in the park playing the style of cricket we are playing that is ultimately more important than the result" - Stuart Broad tells Sky Sports about The Ashes, Bazball, and being England's nighthawk
Monday 12 June 2023 14:32, UK
Despite his new role as England's bat-flaying 'nighthawk', Stuart Broad says he has one main responsibility in the Test team.
"I see my No 1 job as changing the momentum of cricket games. I don't really care if that's one wicket or eight wickets," the seamer told Sky Sports News ahead of the Ashes summer.
"If I can change the momentum of that day by getting the crowd going, lifting the Barmy Army, giving my team-mates more energy, that is all I judge myself on."
Momentum-changing, wicket-taking spells have become Broad's trademark.
There was his 6-17 in South Africa in 2016. A 7-44 against New Zealand at Lord's three years earlier.
His most famous, of course, was the Ashes 8-15 at Trent Bridge in 2015, while his most recent was when he shredded New Zealand's top order under the lights in the Mount Maunganui Test in February.
Broad - whose side face Australia in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston from June 16, live on Sky Sports - added: "The older I've got I definitely know what to look out for. A lot of cricket is knowing when conditions are in your favour and that is your time to strike.
"I know a pitch that is bouncing the right way for me, is moving nicely for me, a run-up that feels rhythmical straightaway. It's in these moments I think, 'right, I have got to make this count'. I hope I have a couple of those moments this summer.
"It could be just getting Steve Smith out and then we break through the Aussies and bowl them out. Or it could be getting a five-for that helps us win a Test match. It is all about momentum changing.
He is someone that had caused me a lot of pain early in our careers. I was a tall bowler who bowled back of a length and tried to bring the outside edge into play and his strength was hitting back of a length through the off-side. I had to redesign my style of bowling, that's the biggest compliment I could give him.
"What's great about this series is that there is such genuine belief in both teams that they are favourites, that they will lift the urn. That to me, as a cricket fan, brings a huge amount of intrigue.
"A lot of players have played a lot of cricket against each other now and it will be two brilliant teams going against each other."
England have won 10 of their 12 Tests since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum were appointed and instilled a swashbuckling brand of cricket. Bazball, as it has come to be known, has revitalised a side that had only achieved one victory in their previous 17 matches.
Should England win three of the five Ashes Tests this summer they will regain the urn for the first time since 2015. Broad says that matters to his side but that entertaining matters more.
He is so authentic with what he says. His natural way is attacking and on the front foot. When he has the ball in his hand he wants to take wickets and doesn't care about going for runs. When he has the bat in his hand he wants to hit boundaries. It is very easy to follow a leader when it's authentic and everything he says is everything about his style of play.
"Our No 1 goal is entertainment," he said. "Of course, winning is vitally important but if we can get kids in the park wanting to play the style of cricket we are playing that is ultimately more important than the result.
"You can still inspire the next generation with your style, even if you lose - but we have a genuine belief that if we commit to our style we will win the series and that would be very special to be a part of.
"We are very hungry as a group to lift the urn again but that is a long way away. One of Baz's [McCullum's] sayings is 'be where your feet are' which means live in the moment and if you attack that day right everything will look after itself."
Of the two defeats on England's ledger under Stokes and McCullum, one was a nail-biting one-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington in February, the other an innings drubbing by South Africa at Lord's last August.
With our culture of taking the result out of the equation, it's all about the style of play, it takes the pressure off us. Results can bring fear of failure whereas when we are just looking to entertain.
McCullum felt England were too timid in that pummelling from the Proteas - a misstep Broad said was rectified the following week when the hosts inflicted an innings thumping of their own at Emirates Old Trafford.
Broad, 36, said: "One of our more positive team talks after we lost to South Africa at Lord's was, 'how are we going to approach next week?'
"As a group, we felt we had been careful that week and it was quite a good reminder to us that if we are careful and prod around a little bit, are not fully committed to what we are trying to implement, then good bowling attacks can hurt you.
"We made a commitment when we got to Manchester to train even more attacking and take that into the game and we played an amazing game. Baz said 'I need you be more out there, so lose the inhibitions, go and express yourself'.
"It's been refreshing to play and addictive to play, you just want to turn up every day and bring a smile to people's faces. It has been amazing to be part of at my age.
"We got to No 1 in the world with a structured way of doing things but this is definitely the freest dressing room I have been a part of and the one least obsessed with results.
"We have now won 10 of 12 Tests with this style of play and done it against some world-class bowling attacks so I am excited to see what happens this summer."
Now, back to this nighthawk stuff.
The role - an attack-minded version of a traditional nightwatchman - was earmarked for Broad last summer but he finally performed it in the Mount Maunganui Test against New Zealand earlier this year.
A largely comical innings of seven came to an end 17th ball but we may yet see the nighthawk again. At the very least, Broad will thrash the ball around down the order.
He added: "The nighthawk thing is a bit tongue-in-cheek but the reality is that from the lower order they want boundaries. It's 'if you can get 10 runs off three balls, we are happy because at some stage that will turn into 40 runs and you can change the game'."
Broad is a potential momentum changer with the bat then and a definite one with the ball.
Watch England's Test summer live on Sky Sports Cricket. The four-day Test against Ireland takes place at Lord's from Thursday with the Ashes series under way at Edgbaston from June 16
