Stuart Broad, the Nottinghamshire & England fast bowler, is plotting a route back into England’s one-day side, one that could well include a run in the Outlaws line-up early in 2017.
Broad missed out on selection for England’s latest white ball squad having become something of a red ball specialist since the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup in early 2015.
But the 29-year-old, who recently spent time at number one in the world bowling rankings for Test cricket, still intends to stake a claim in time for the Champions Trophy and World Cup competitions, which will be played in England in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
“It's tricky because I haven't played any white-ball cricket,” said Broad who, due to his red ball England commitments, has played one List A and one T20 match for Notts in the last 12 months.
"I'm going to have to carefully plot how to do it and the schedule next year might massively work in my favour.”
With county cricket’s Royal London One-Day Cup set to be played in April and May, and with no Test cricket scheduled in 2017 until July, Broad senses an opportunity to earn a place in his country’s plans for the two global tournaments.
“The only way I'll get back is by playing white-ball cricket and that's the only way my skills will improve, too,” he added.
“I almost need a bit of a unique selling point in one-day cricket. I can't just be a regulation line-and-length bowler, I have to be something a bit different and whether that's me going round the wicket and looking to improve my skills in that way, making the batsman think: 'What's he doing here?’
"I almost need to sit down with a pen and paper and say: 'Right I want to play here, and this is the type of delivery I need to work at' and hopefully we'll be sat here next year and I'll have some stats behind me.
“Then I can go to the selectors and say: 'You told me you were picking the team on merit. Well there you go.’"
Meanwhile, with an Investec Test Series against Pakistan on the horizon, Broad’s next appearance for Notts is likely to be the Specsavers County Championship fixture against Lancashire at Trent Bridge starting Sunday 3 July.
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