Broad hopes to add muscle to England's attack

London: Ashes star is hoping to replicate his county form against Pakistan after taking time out to bulk up Stuart Broad has been a Test cricketer for two and a half years and 28 matches but it was a quiet word of advice from his county coach that led to the best bowling figures of his career at Edgbaston last week.

In a rare outing for his county, Nottinghamshire, Broad returned figures of eight for 52 as he prepared for this week's first Test against Pakistan at his home ground, Trent Bridge. "I'm going to be a very confident bowler when I run in this week," he said. "I tried a little too much in the first innings [against Warwickshire] and was too short and ropy.

"I was still happy to pick up three wickets. But then I had a chat with Mike Hendrick, our bowling coach, and he told me to just run up and hit the same spot as often as I possibly could. I set my plan to hit the top of offstump and be patient and at tea I had seven for 20. To get an eight-for just before the Test was a real confidence builder."

Broad was given a break from cricket at the start of the season to build up his willowy frame through a strength and conditioning programme organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board and he promises to come to this week's Test with "maybe a bit of extra bounce and zip".

"But that, I hope, will be just the short-term result. In the long term, it will help me get through five Tests in Australia and go straight to the World Cup and hopefully see England win."

Aggressive approach

Broad, 24, was dubbed "Golden Balls" by the tabloids following his Ashes winning turn at The Oval, where he took five for 19 in 47 deliveries at the end of last summer.

He was interviewed by Jonathan Ross, frolicked on TV with Jamie Oliver and Ricky Gervais and was saluted as the new Andrew Flintoff, even though his record is considerably better than the Lancashire lad at the same stage.

Broad was not fashionable with everyone, though, and his aggressive, feisty approach was criticised by former England captains Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain in South Africa in the winter. "I know Vaughny was very happy with me when he was my captain," he says, adding that he will not be changing his approach. "That's why I always loved watching Martin Johnson and Wayne Rooney, people like that, people who have expressed their feelings and shown their passion for the game.

Role models

"It's important to show aggression. We as an England team have that presence about us, with the likes of Graeme Swann, who is a spin bowler but who still has a presence, and James Anderson. We pride ourselves in showing passion and that might be why we're doing quite well at the moment."

Broad said he got his own passion from his father, former England opening batsman Chris Broad, but has also looked to Australia for role models. "Look at Glenn McGrath. He got in the batsman's face. And I always looked at Steve Waugh as someone who had a real steel. You looked at him and thought he might not be the most technically gifted but he had something about him which made him horrible to play against. That's something I really admired about him.

"And McGrath, even on flat wickets, had a presence. Batsmen were thinking about him, rather than what cover drive they were going to hit."