STUART BROAD: I have a steely belief I can be a success with England

The start of a new county season is exciting for players all around the country and it is no different for me as I love representing Nottinghamshire.

As a centrally contracted player, though, I do not look forward from the first ball this week but backwards from the start of the international summer with England.

As a rule, I've always counted back from the first Test match rather than look to build towards it from the opening game and that is why I won't be featuring in the first LV= County Championship contest at Sussex from this Thursday.

Of course, I do not currently hold an England shirt but if I want to be in the first Test XI of summer 2022 — and I desperately do — the last thing I want is to be heading to Lord's to take on New Zealand on June 2, seven Championship matches deep with the potential for carrying a niggle or feeling tired and heavy legs.

Four back-to-back Test matches to start England's home summer — three against New Zealand plus the rearranged one against India — will require every ounce of fitness and so I'm trying to make sure I am in peak condition for June.

If I started on April 7 and played solidly for eight weeks, I would not be, and so I have identified fixtures to play to maximise form, fitness and preparation.

Because, at the end of the day, getting back into the England team for me is not about taking lots of wickets in Division Two. Whether I take 10 or 45 in that first period of the season will not be the main factor for me as a bowler with 537 Test wickets, and good form in my recent international appearances.

I have learned how to prepare for international home summers over 15 years and it is a bit like the way an Olympian uses events in the build-up to a Games. In the short term, you