Stuart Broad has opened up on his England Test future, saying that he is unlikely to keep bowling until he reaches the age James Anderson is now.

Broad will turn 34 in June, while Anderson is just under four years older, with his 38th birthday this coming July. The pair, England’s two leading wicket-takers in Test cricket, shared a wide-ranging chat on an Instagram Live on the England Cricket Instagram page, and Broad revealed that while he hasn’t given any thought to a specific retirement date, he would “prefer to go that little bit earlier than that little bit later”.

“I’m someone who, I don’t like to give too much thought into that,” he said. “Professional sport never really allows the perfect finish, apart from Cooky [Alastair Cook], who’s an example of when it’s amazing. But as bowlers we’re going to get injured, we’re going to get dropped, lose form, whatever, so I feel like if I looked at a target end, it might stop me improving, it might stop that real hunger to drive forward.

“I don’t think I could go until your age. There’s a few reasons for that. I think your action’s so smooth and looks a lot calmer on your body, whereas mine is a little bit more forceful through my body I think. And with your wrist position you can get a lot of skills out of particular conditions – swing, wobble seam, your areas are immaculate. Mine’s not. I rely on a lot of effort and force to try and get the batsman out with a little bit of working out.

“I’d never want to get to that place where I’m bowling against a 19-year-old and they’re going, ‘I thought someone said he used to be a good bowler’. I’d hate that. I’d prefer to go that little bit earlier than that little bit later.”

Should Broad retire before he turns 38, that could mean Anderson outlasts his career in an England shirt, with the Lancastrian having recently floated the possibility of him continuing to bowl until he’s 45 years old. Both agreed that for the moment that hunger remains, and that the 2021/22 Ashes series in Australia looms as an enticing series to build towards.

“I’m loving the environment at the minute, I’m loving playing for England,” said Broad. “Chris Silverwood coming in as coach is great for me because I really liked him as a bowling coach, he helped change my action. You always need those sort of things to spur you on. I still have a huge motivation at the moment to keep playing, but you just assess that year by year don’t you. We’ve got that carrot dangling over us of Australia in Australia which looks like an achievable carrot to grab.”