Stuart Broad has cited returning to the field for Nottinghamshire as one of his key goals for 2021.
The 34-year-old signed a two-year contract extension with the club ahead of the 2020 season. However, with the domestic schedule drastically reduced in the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus, Broad was unable to take to the field for his county.
It’s a wrong that he is desperate to right over the next 12 months.
“I'm really keen to get back into that Notts changing room next year,” he told the Talk of Trent Bridge podcast.
“With all the Covid precautions we’re following, it's not been possible to move between the ‘England’ and ‘Notts’ bubbles, but I just hope we can get to back to some sort of relative normality around preseason and start to really push into the season.
“I’ve got a couple of goals leading into next season: one is to be available for another Trent Bridge Test match, and the other is to help Notts get into a position where we can win trophies.”
Notts’ white-ball side were able to secure silverware in 2020 after a largely dominant Vitality Blast campaign.
But Broad singled out one longtime teammate for his performance in a match which could so easily have ended in defeat.
“I’ve got a couple of goals leading into next season: one is to be available for another Trent Bridge Test match, and the other is to help Notts get into a position where we can win trophies.”
As the Outlaws’ quarter-final against Leicestershire reached its thrilling conclusion, the seamer was watching on from pitchside as a pundit for Sky Sports.
Even as nerves began to jangle, his belief in the Green and Golds never wavered.
“I remember saying to Rob Key, just as it looked almost dead and buried, ‘whenever Samit Patel is at the crease, you’ve got a chance’,” he said.
“I've played in the same team as him since 2008 and I know what he's like – he’s a fighter.
“On big occasions he can stand up and win games – the most obvious one maybe being the 2013 YB40 final at Lords, where he came on and got crucial wickets.
“After we got that win from a wobbly performance though – which can always happen in tournament play – it always felt to me like we were going to win the trophy.”
While restricted to a watching brief, Broad was impressed from afar by the performances his county teammates put in during a shortened season.
“We always looked like the strongest T20 team throughout the competition, so there’s no doubt that the players deserved that trophy,” he said.
“And the red-ball performances certainly improved from the year before. You saw so many players developing their games – people like Zak Chappell, who really threatened with the ball and stamped his authority on the team.
“While I’m not allowed to swap bubbles between England and Notts at the moment, I can see from social media that the guys are training hard, and there's a lot of determination to do well next year.
“I know the players will be desperate to have the members and the fans back, so that they can show off the improvements they have made.
“There’s that sense of quality about the squad, and it's exciting going into next year thinking that we can compete against the best sides to win trophies.”
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It’s our great pleasure to declare that membership of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club for 2021 is well-and-truly on sale now, with top ticketing priority for our splendid international summer going to those who join our club.
