Broad has 'no grudges' against Pakistan
Julian Guyer
Stuart Broad was adamant he bore Pakistan no ill-will as he prepared
to face them for the first time since a spot-fixing scandal overshadowed
what should have been one of his best-ever seasons.
Broad, primarily a fast-medium bowler, scored a Test-best 169 against
Pakistan at Lord's in 2010.
But rather than being remembered for Broad's innings, full of shots
of which his father, former England opening batsman Chris, would have
been proud, the match became infamous as the game where three Pakistan
players were exposed in a spot-fixing scandal by now defunct British
tabloid the News of the World.
Then Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and
Mohammad Aamer were banned for a minimum of five years each by the
International Cricket Council for conspiring to deliberately bowl
no-balls as part of a betting scam.
Dramatic twist
And the case took a dramatic twist when the trio were all jailed by a
British court in November.
For pretty much all his innings it appeared Pakistan were bowling
`properly' to Broad, who made his runs batting at No 9.
But as soon as the spot-fixing story emerged, there were many who
questioned the worth of an achievement that gave Broad a place on the
coveted Lord's honours board.
England are now preparing to face Pakistan in a three-Test series in
the United Arab Emirates starting on January 17.
Broad, speaking before they arrived in the Gulf state, said the past
was the past.
``I think it's important that we move on from that. Of course there's
always going to be that bitterness because it was a very ugly end to
what was actually a really nice summer's cricket.
Good cricket
"I thought we actually played very good cricket and it was quite an
interesting Test series (England won 3-1), but it was completely
overshadowed by what followed.
``But there is water under the bridge from there. The strength of
this England team is that we've been able to deal with circumstances
like that and actually focus on what we do well.
``It's important we do that in this series.
``It's important we don't go there with aggression and anger in us
from what's happened in the past. It's important we are as logical as we
have been over the past two years and get the job done. You don't do
that by holding old grudges." LONDON, Wednesday (AFP)
|