Paceman says conditions were such in first hour he felt there could be a dismissal every ball after figures of six for 25 move him up to sixth in list of hosts’ all-time wicket-takers
Stuart Broad’s heart sank when England lost the toss but within less than half an hour his mood had changed
completely.
“It was good bowling but eight for four? I can’t remember when we have knocked
over a top order like that,” he said. “The first hour was as good a bowling
conditions as you could get because you felt you could get a wicket with
every ball.”
It was a complete contrast to the opening exchanges of the first Test on
Broad’s home ground at Trent Bridge when a delivery in his first over
bounced twice before reaching Matt Prior behind the stumps.
Geoffrey Boycott
had to bat many times on such grey, overcast mornings in
Manchester and rated M S Dhoni as “daft as a brush” for batting first but
England would have done the same.
“When we lost the toss I was disappointed because I thought it was a big toss
to win on the experience of Australia getting 570 batting first last year.
If it had not rained we would have lost that Test but we got lucky with
overheads today. It became cloudy and felt heavy. Every ball was nickable.”
