Stuart Broad has played down talk that he is now ready to fill Andrew Flintoff's shoes as England's all-rounder.
Nottinghamshire bowler full of praise for retired Flintoff
Stuart Broad has played down talk that he can immediately jump into Andrew Flintoff's shoes and become England's all-rounder.
Andrew Strauss' side will have to do without Flintoff in Test cricket after he bowed out from the longer form of the game as an Ashes winner.
Broad, who averages 35.78 with the ball and 30.68 with the bat after 22 Tests, is seen as the man most likely to replace the Lancastrian.
Speaking the day after the 197-run win over Australia in the decisive fifth Test, the 22-year-old admitted that it was "surreal" to even be mentioned alongside the likes of Flintoff and Sir Ian Botham as a genuine all-round talent.
No pressure
"I'm certainly not in the all-rounder class Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff were - they could make big hundreds. But I would like to be in the future," he said.
"It's surreal being mentioned in the same sentence as those two (Botham and Flintoff). But I'm not under any extra pressure - I just try to improve my game as much as I can.
"I think I'm a number eight at the moment - I'm enjoying that position and the freedom that I have there.
"I'd love to move up the order at some stage in my career but I've got a lot of hard work to do before that."
Broad believes England can prosper without Flintoff, who will have an operation on the right knee injury that has plagued him throughout the summer.
"We are not rabbits in the headlights without Fred. We have had to play at times without him before," the Nottinghamshire bowler added.
"But I cannot thank him enough for what he has done for English cricket, never mind myself.
"As a young, up-and-coming all-rounder it's been superb to have him around. He's not only superb on the pitch to play with but in the changing room, the advice that he offers...he's been a huge help to me."
Before he gets the chance to take over from Flintoff on the winter tour to South Africa Broad will be part of England's side for the upcoming NatWest Series.
The squad fly out to Dublin to play Ireland in a one-dayer on Thursday ahead of two Twenty20 Internationals and seven ODI's against Australia.
