Stuart Broad: ‘This is the biggest Ashes buildup – I’m loving the circus’

T hree weeks out from the Ashes, at least one of England’s quicks is in good fettle. Jimmy Anderson is worrying over a groin strain, Ollie Robinson a turned ankle, Olly Stone has a torn hamstring and Jofra Archer a fractured elbow, but Stuart Broad has never felt better. He is coming off what he describes as “the most enjoyable year of my life”, one in which he took 40 Test wickets, played in some of the most entertaining games of cricket he’s ever been involved in, became a father for the first time and, only a little less important, got to watch Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. He is beaming.

Better yet, he has an Ashes summer ahead. These days Broad enjoys the phoney war almost as much as he does the series itself. Almost. “I think it feels like the biggest buildup I can remember for an Ashes series,” he says. “I mean 2005 was arguably one of the most famous Ashes series. I was only just starting my professional journey then. But this feels on a par with it. It’s going to be pretty fascinating I think. The Aussies are coming off the back of a fantastic season, they dominated the summer over there, but England are playing in a style that is quite addictive to watch, and just draws you in.

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“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.