After consulting Anderson and Richard Hadlee, Broad has shortened his run-up by five yards in a bid to improve his rhythm and bowl with a higher action
George Dobell in Barbados20-Jan-2019James Anderson has “not seen anyone work as hard on their game” as Stuart Broad over the last couple of years.Anderson and Broad go into the Barbados Test with 998 Test wickets between them over the course of their careers. But while Broad, at 32, is four years younger than Anderson, it is his form that has caused more concern over the last couple of years.While Anderson has gone from strength to strength, compensating for his somewhat diminished pace with his control and range of skills, Broad has, at times, looked as if he were in gradual decline. He has only taken one five-for since January 2016 and, in both the 2017 and the 2017-18 seasons, had a bowling average a fraction above 33.Neither the decline in pace nor movement were dramatic but, somewhere along the way, the remarkable hot streaks of wickets that characterise Broad’s career disappeared. He was left out of the side for the first two Tests in Sri Lanka and is no longer guaranteed to take the new ball alongside Anderson.ALSO READ: Seamers to the fore as WI put up their DukesSuch is his desire to extend his career, however, Broad has recognised the signs and resolved to improve. After consulting Anderson and Richard Hadlee – a Nottinghamshire team-mate of his father, Chris – Broad has shortened his run-up by five yards in a bid to improve his rhythm and bowl with a higher action. Writing in the recently, he explained that “standing taller in delivery… should provide me with extra bounce”.Alongside some alterations he had made to his wrist position, Broad hopes the changes will both make him more potent and extend his career by several years.The early signs are promising. Despite not taking any wickets in the final Test of the Sri Lanka series in Colombo, Broad bowled with impressive pace and saw two chances put down off him in the slips. Both in Colombo and in the warm-up games in Barbados, he appeared to gain a little of the away swing that has been largely absent in recent times. He warns that the changes may not completely bed in for a few months – the Ashes remain his main target – but it will be intriguing to see how he fares in the Caribbean, where he has a Test bowling average of 31.22.Certainly Anderson is impressed. “Probably since Australia, I’ve not seen anyone work as hard as he has on their game,” Anderson said. “It’s a credit to him. He’s put so many hard yards in, not just on his run-up but on his action and trying to swing the ball away again.”I do think the run-up has looked really good here. He still has the same snap, the same momentum going through the crease. For me, it’s all about the last six yards, building that momentum up to the crease. He can definitely have the same oomph.”And it might just get another couple of years out of him. I think part of him is thinking ‘why have I not done this sooner?'”