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Louise Thomas
Editor
Stuart Broad insists that England must select Dan Worrall and backed him to inject much-needed experience into the Test attack.
The standout seamer in county cricket, Worrall was born in Melbourne and represented Australia in 2016. But the 33-year-old holds a UK passport and, having played for Surrey since 2022, becomes eligible to represent England in April next year.
Broad is a fully paid-up member of the Worrall fan club and wants to see Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes incorporate him into the England set-up at the earliest opportunity.
“I’m a huge fan of Dan’s bowling,” said Broad, who been working with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to support the launch of Inside Lord’s. “He moves the ball consistently – and not just the red ball – he can nibble the new white ball around too and has good skills.
“I like what he does with that wide angle on the crease, he can swing the ball away and nip it back. He has a lot of weapons in his armoury.
“There is no doubt he will be in the selectors’ thoughts because you could get a couple of great years from him. Ultimately, playing for him will be about winning Tests and he is a bowler that could help you get 20 wickets for a couple of seasons.
“I don’t know Dan personally, I’m not sure what his fitness levels are like, or his longevity and mindset, but he’s the standout player in county cricket.”
Since the retirement of Broad and partner in crime James Anderson, England have blooded several young quicks including Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts.
Aside from seasoned seamer Chris Woakes, the England seam battery that travels to Pakistan for a three-match series contains only 19 Test caps.
Woakes helped fill the void with an excellent home summer, but England’s second-highest wicket taker thinks Worrall’s input will be vital to share the load.
“I think you always need one bowler in your team with experience,” said Broad. “Chris Woakes played that role this summer, but I thought he looked very tired at the end of it, to be honest.
“It is hard to play every single game in that leadership role and it is exceedingly difficult to go into a Test match, particularly when Ben Stokes is not playing or bowling, with three very inexperienced bowlers.
“If it goes wrong and the spinners are inexperienced too, you could lose it in an hour.
“I would always lean on the side of having someone with a bulk of bowling experience who knows their role in the team because it is Test cricket and you are playing against the best, particularly when India is coming over and they have a gigantic batting unit.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Dan came into the group and didn’t necessarily play every game but came in to contribute and win matches because someone with his experience, you could use him for a game, sit him out for two or three weeks and when you pick him again, he’ll be able to deliver straight away.”
After two years of injury struggles, Jofra Archer has been successfully reintegrated into England’s white-ball line-up.
But his last Test outing came in India back in February 2021 and doubts remain over his ability to sustain the workload of red-ball cricket.
“It’s amazing to see Jofra back in an England shirt,” said Broad. “He has had a period to try and get the body right but whether that is for Test cricket, I am not sure, because the workload is so huge.
“I think he’ll be on the plane to Australia but how much we see of him, we’ll only really find out in the next year because he’s got to build up his overs in ODI cricket.”
Stuart Broad was talking ahead of the launch of Inside Lord’s. Lord’s Cricket Ground’s new digital platform: https://www.lords.org/lords/inside-lord-s/your-inside-lords
