Fit Stuart Broad wants to keep playing for England

After a third ten-wicket match haul in Test cricket, Stuart Broad credited a change in technique for his brilliant performance in the series against West Indies that concluded on Tuesday, 28 July with a 2-1 victory for England.

"I feel I'm bowling as well as I ever have. I've done some technical work and changed my run-up in the last 18 months. I'm challenging the stumps and trying to make the batsmen play as much as possible. That's a tactical thing that's really taken me to a really exciting level.

"I felt like my alignment to the stumps was really good in this game. I had a bit of confidence and match practice from the second Test so my tempo and alignment felt like every time I released the ball I could bring off stump into play.

"That's my go-to: I want to make the batsman play. I don't like to get left too often. When you come on a pitch with a little bit of wear that's keeping low, that's sort of my dream pitch. Most fast bowlers like it flying through, catching the edge and going to slip at chest height but if I can bring the stumps into play, it really suits my style."

At 34, Broad isn't done yet and is constantly looking to getter by making slight technical tweaks to his game, be it changing his batting approach after watching Shane Warne or going fuller with his bowling length after inputs from his Nottinghamshire analyst, Kunal Manek.

"It is easy to get to 34 and start thinking 'I'll do what I have done for the last 13 years and be okay'. But I'm looking for the next step that will improve me as a cricketer. That keeps you moving forward as a cricketer.

"If you'd asked me four years ago, 'at 34 do you think you could play another three or four years?' I'd have said absolutely not. Now I'm 34 and I feel fit. Post-lockdown my fitness testing was the best it's ever been. I feel excited."

While he became the fourth pacer to take 500 Test wickets, Broad isn't entirely ruling out the possibility of getting to 600 wickets as he identifies his best quality is to "never give up".

"I'm not someone who sets targets. I never said I really want to get to 500 wickets or 600 wickets. But at the moment I feel fresh, I feel fit. I'm bowling how I want to be bowling. If I keep bowling the way I am for the next few years then I wouldn't rule anything out."