Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali should miss England's tour to New Zealand, says Steve Harmison

Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali should miss England's tour of New Zealand in order to be ready for a busy summer of Test cricket against India and Pakistan, says Steve Harmison.

England play a two-match series in New Zealand in March have suffered a difficult winter in Australia, losing the Ashes 4-0, and Broad and Moeen have struggled for both form and fitness down under.

Ashes Debate

Broad, who took 11 wickets at an average just below 48, briefly showed what he can do, taking 4-51 and scoring 56 in England's draw at the MCG, but mostly struggled on the flat decks, particularly in Perth, when he returned the worst figures of his career to date, 0-142.

But Harmison, who played 63 Test for England, thinks Broad, who has 399 Test wickets to his name, still has plenty to offer, despite suggesting he misses the trip to New Zealand.

"England should persist with Broad," Harmison told Sky Sports. "I know he's just playing Test matches but personally I would have given him a break for the New Zealand series to get him fit and firing for the summer.

"You don't drop Stuart Broad, you don't drop Jimmy Anderson and you don't drop Alastair Cook, they retire. I don't think Broad's ready for retirement, he's still got so much to give.

"He's still got another 100 Test wickets in him at least in my opinion and that's two years of international cricket.

"All bowlers suffer a dip in confidence and need to work on technical issues, which potentially he could do between now and the New Zealand series.

"If he does that great, he goes on tour, but it wouldn't bother me if he didn't go. He can get back to Nottinghamshire, play four of the six first-class matches at the start of the summer and be ready to go for the first Test."

Moeen also struggled for form in Australia, scoring 179 runs at an average of 19.88 with his five wickets for the series coming at 115.

He also struggled for fitness in the build-up to the series, missing two warm-up games with a side problem before picking up a finger injury which hampered him during the series.

Harmison thinks the off-spinner is another player who would benefit from a break.

Speaking on Ashes Debate, the former England seamer said: "It's not because he didn't do so well in Australia, but I wouldn't take Ali to New Zealand. I'd give him a break.

"That would then allow them to play Mason Crane and allow Moeen to recharge his batteries ahead of the English summer.

"He's been fantastic up until the last seven or eight weeks - he's been invaluable to this England side but he just hasn't performed in Australia.

"It's time to give him a break and get him back to his beast for the summer."