Broad: Preparation paid off

Stuart Broad is delighted to have seen all of his hard work pay off after he played his part in a memorable summer by claiming the PCA’s Test Most Valuable Player award.

Coming back into the international fold after England’s ICC Cricket World Cup triumph, Broad took no time in rediscovering his natural rhythm as he claimed match figures of 7-79 in the first Test of the summer against Ireland.

Broad then followed that up with his most prolific Ashes series to date. The tall seamer claimed 26 scalps at just 26.65 runs apiece as England earned a respectable 2-2 series draw against the old enemy.

He was particularly dangerous to the left-handers in the Australian batting line-up. His battle with the returning David Warner was as one-sided as they come, with Broad removing the opening batsman a record seven times in a single series.

The Nottinghamshire man’s task was made all the more difficult this summer by the absence of long-time opening bowling partner James Anderson, who sat out the fixture against Ireland and bowled just four Ashes overs before succumbing to a calf injury.

There was also talk that the emergence of Jofra Archer and Sam Curran might threaten Broad’s place in the side, but the 33-year-old, who has 467 Test wickets to his name, has done brilliantly to reaffirm his status as the leader of England’s pace attack. He finished with 144.45 Test MVP points to his name to top the table ahead of Ben Stokes and Archer.

“You look back at this entire summer of English cricket and it’s probably one of the most inspiring that I can remember,” Broad said.

“Cricket has been the real winner.”

Reflecting on his own achievements this year, Broad is delighted that the hard work he put in during the lead-up to this Ashes series has paid off.

“You don’t lead those (MVP) charts unless you’ve done good things for the team.

“I knew my whole summer was going to be based around this six-match run, and I’d done some technical work to prepare for it.

“I’ve been playing against David Warner for a long time now, and there have been some series where has has gotten the better of me. I’m pleased because I did a lot of preparation pre-series on him, I knew he was a key player.

“I’m obviously delighted to have had such a big impact on the summer, but it also gives me a lot of hunger for the future.”

View the PCA’s England Test MVP Rankings here.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news by following the @pcaMVP on Twitter.