SOUTH AFRICA TOUR OF ENGLAND 2017

Broad defends England's aggressive approach

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

Stuart Broad defended England's aggressive approach despite it leading to a loss in the second Test against South Africa © Getty

England pacer Stuart Broad believes the long gap between the second and the third Test against South Africa will help them regroup as a team after being thrashed at Trent Bridge.

After having won the opening match at Lord's comfortably, fortunes reversed in the next as South Africa made an emphatic comeback to win the second Test. The problem of losing badly after a good win is a problem that England have been plagued with for a long time. He doesn't know the reason behind the inconsistent performances, but believes the unit can come fighting back hard at the Oval.

"What's happened so far against South Africa reminds me of the 2015 Ashes," Broad wrote in his column in Daily Mail. "We beat Australia easily in the first Test at Cardiff, then lost the second badly at Lord's.

"After that, we had a bit of gap before the next game - as we have this time - then had two good wins at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge. We're planning to draw on that experience now."

Critics were harsh with England's over aggressive approach when they were down. The fact that they looked to attack when they should have just seen through passages of play cautiously made some of the former cricketers point out their inability to keep patience. While Broad agrees that there has been a one-dimensional approach by the team lately, he adds that it is an approach that has worked well for the side several times in the recent past.

"Some of our best performances have come when we've counter-attacked," he justified. "Joe Root and Ben Stokes put on 160-odd after we were 30 for four against New Zealand at Lord's in 2015, and Root made that brilliant hundred at the Wanderers to get us out of trouble.

"But clearly we have to choose the right moment to go on the offensive, and sometimes it will go wrong, as it did in Nottingham. We can always get better at working out when to attack and when to sit in. We've also got to stay true to our attacking instincts."

He also added that England's change in fortunes in Ashes since 2005 has been at the back of some attacking cricket, more importantly from the fact that players have refused to 'go in a shell' since then.

He admitted that it's an approach that they have taken even in their bowling, of not being on the defensive at any point. However, he felt that he missed a trick in the second Test.

"At one point during the first innings at Trent Bridge I had figures of three for 29," Broad added. "That's when I should have been a bit more ruthless and bagged six for 50, not end up with three for 64. For all of us, that streak went missing."

© Cricbuzz

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