Stuart Broad thinks Mohammad Amir will be a big threat in England v Pakistan Test series
Wednesday 13 July 2016 11:08, UK
Stuart Broad says England need to forget about Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir's past and concentrate on his cricketing abilities.
England's series against Pakistan begins on Thursday at Lord's, live on Sky Sports 2, and Amir is set to make a high-profile return to the Test scene, at the ground where he became embroiled in a spot-fixing scandal in 2010.
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The 24-year-old was one of the hottest properties in world cricket at the time and is now playing again after serving his suspension.
Broad said: "It is a huge story, back for his first Test at Lord's since the controversy six years ago, a massive story. But, as a team, it is a dangerous place to get waylaid by that, because we could find ourselves in a lot of trouble.
"Having seen the way Amir has bowled at Taunton, we need to get in the right frame of mind, because he can do us some damage.
"Let's start looking at him as a cricketer and a bowler, and how we can negate that.
"I think what will help the team move on is that there is only me, Alastair Cook and Steve Finn who played in that Test. It is a very new team."
England will be without Broad's regular new-ball partner James Anderson for Lord's, meaning Jake Ball or Toby Roland-Jones will be given a debut.
Broad memorably bowled England to an Ashes win at Trent Bridge when Anderson was absent last year, and again impressed when England were without the Lancashire man in Durban last Christmas but still managed to secure a victory over South Africa.
And Broad said: "I have played 90-odd Test matches, and I can only think of maybe five or six without Jimmy.
"You are stepping into the unknown, but that can give you a bit extra. Trent Bridge went well, Durban went well. I hope it will go the same here."
Broad's chief concern is the Lord's pitch, which has not tended to offer much help to pace bowlers of late.
"I think our biggest challenge is going to be this wicket, because you look at all the Middlesex scores and they are all bore draws - 500 plays 500," said the 30-year-old.
"I don't think wickets should seam around, I just think they have got to bounce. If you can't get a bloke caught-behind or caught in the slips, it takes out 60 per cent of dismissals.
"The biggest test as a bowling unit will be trying to do what no other team has done this year, and that's win a game taking 20 wickets at Lord's.
"It proved to be a big challenge when we had Jimmy in the side four weeks ago [for a rain-ruined draw with Sri Lanka], so it will be an even bigger challenge this week."
See how England cope without Anderson - and Mohammad Amir's likely return to Test cricket with Pakistan - by watching the first Test at Lord's, from 10am, Thursday, Sky Sports 2.
