Agence France Presse
Nottingham, August 4: England paceman Stuart Broad is proud of the way his side has restricted Australia captain Michael Clarke in the Ashes series so far but warned they cannot let the star batsman off the hook. Clarke has so far totaled 94 from the six innings that he has played.
“We obviously do a lot of research on him because he averages something like 52 in over 110 Tests which is remarkable, the career he’s had,” said Broad Tuesday at his Trent Bridge home ground, where the fourth Test starts Thursday.
“We’ve made it hard for Michael. We know how dangerous he is. He is such a key player for them and it’s been going well so far. But you cannot drop guard more so against a batsman of Michael’s calibre,” Broad added.
Thursday’s match will see England go into a Test without James Anderson for the first time since both he and Broad were controversially rested from the team that played the West Indies in a rain-affected draw at Edgbaston in 2012. The 33-year-old Anderson has a brilliant record at Trent Bridge with 53 wickets in eight Tests at an average of 19.24.
“Jimmy (James Anderson) extracts the most out of this wicket as any bowler I have seen and it’s not just about his swing,” said Broad.
“In 2013 (when England beat Australia by 14 runs in the first Test at Trent Bridge) he was bowling cutters and that sort of things that were causing the Aussies problems. I am gutted for him that he is missing this Test match,” the pacer added.
