Stuart Broad has praised the progress of Nottinghamshire’s locally produced players as he prepares to take to the field for the first time in 2022.

The 35-year-old fast bowler has been named alongside a homegrown contingent of five in a 13-man squad for the match against Worcestershire, which commences at 11am tomorrow (Thursday).

While Luke Fletcher, Tom Moores and Brett Hutton have been familiar fixtures for a number of years, Lyndon James and Liam Patterson-White recently entered their second campaigns as regular members of the red-ball first team.

With Patterson-White topping the LV= Insurance County Championship wicket-takers chart and James averaging 37 in First-Class cricket after compiling his maiden century against Durham, the youthful duo have spent their early weeks of the season delivering performances to savour.

Joey Evison, who will miss the forthcoming game with a foot injury, completes a notable trio in that regard having himself posted a maiden First-Class ton in the season’s opening fixture against Sussex.

Broad, who is commencing his 15th summer as a Nottinghamshire player, believes that a flourishing production line of local talent bodes well for the present and future.

“To be in a situation where Joey, Lyndon and Liam are all winning games for the first team is a huge pat on the back for the coaching staff, the youth setup and the structure of the club,” said the 329-time England international.

“There’s also Fateh Singh, who is a great younger prospect having recently been with England’s under 19s, and there are others coming through the pathway as well.

“For me, it proves that we’re getting it right and people like that stepping up and putting in outstanding performances has been amazing to see.”

From the Broad versus Azhar Ali battle of the international craftsmen to Nottinghamshire’s status as early season table-toppers and Jake Libby’s Trent Bridge return, the Green and Golds versus the Pears provides narratives aplenty for those who opt to attend or watch the action online.

Broad, however, has little interest in such conjecture. Nottinghamshire’s focus will be upon executing their own performances, and doing it well.

“They’ve got quality in their side, for sure,” he said. “Azhar Ali is one of the best Test batters in the world and someone that we have seen score huge Test Match runs.

“We know Jake Libby from his time here at Notts and he’s been really successful since moving to Worcestershire.

“I played against them last year. We know a lot about the opposition. But our conversations have been about reconnecting with what we do well.

“Each member of our bowling attack has their own respective strengths. We have a batting unit that’s firing. If we look after ourselves, the result will take care of itself.

“We’ve had two fantastic away wins at Sussex and Durham, the latter of which was incredibly comprehensive,” Broad continued.

“Sussex was hard work for three days, then everything came together on the last.

“But we lost our home game against Glamorgan, so we don’t need any more motivation other than to show our members and supporters the kind of team we have become.”

Nottinghamshire’s squad to face Worcestershire (from): Ben Slater, Haseeb Hameed, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Lyndon James, Steven Mullaney (captain), Tom Moores, Liam Patterson-White, James Pattinson, Brett Hutton, Stuart Broad, Luke Fletcher and Dane Paterson.

Joey Evison, Zak Chappell, Jake Ball and James Hayes remain unavailable for selection as they continue to recover from injury.

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