Veteran England seamer Stuart Broad underlined that he is relishing the 'circus' or the verbal exchanges between players ahead of the 2023 Ashes series, starting on June 16th. The right-arm seamer thinks the build-up for the upcoming series is perhaps the best since the 2005 leg, which also took place in England.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Broad started igniting fire when he voided the 2021-22 Ashes series in Australia, citing harsh circumstances for the English side, including lack of practice before the series. The Englishmen managed to draw the fourth Test in Sydney and lost the remaining four comprehensively.
The 36-year-old admitted that the counter-punches thrown by Aussie and English players have been fascinating and reckons it resembles a Boxing match.
"It feels like this series is building nicely because Australia have an undoubted belief within their camp that they’ll come and win here. And we’ve got an undoubted belief that we’re going to win. I can’t think of that many series, certainly through the 90s when I was growing up, where that was the case, where both teams genuinely felt like they’re favourites. I’m loving the circus, the to and fro between the players. It’s a bit like a boxing match building up to Edgbaston," the 161-Test veteran said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Stuart Broad looking forward to repeating 'Bazball' against Australia:
Broad, who has a good record against Australia in England, remains confident of replicating the same aggressive approach against Pat Cummins and co.
"Every bowling attack we’ve played so far has gone: ‘They can’t do it against us’, haven’t they? “Dean Elgar was quite vocal on that when we played South Africa last summer. And I think the Aussies will feel it as well. I remember Glenn McGrath would always say Australia would win 5-0, and I used to think ‘why is he saying that’? But now I get it. Or when Nathan Lyon used to come out and say he’s suddenly turning it the other way. I find it a really nice side of Ashes cricket."
While England haven't held the Ashes urn since 2015, they will be optimistic of regaining it in the upcoming leg. Since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as captain and coach, respectively, England have lost only two out of the last 12 Tests.
