"I�ve been frustrated, angry, gutted � because it�s quite a hard decision to understand. I�ve probably bowled the best I�ve ever bowled in the last couple of years. I felt like it was my shirt, having been in the team through the Ashes and going to South Africa and winning there" - a miffed Stuart Broad said after he was dropped from the Southampton game against West Indies at the start of this month.

England were too eager to awe so proudly display their quickest pacers - Jofra Archer and Mark Wood - as part of their playing XI. The move only implied that England had their eyes on the next Ashes Down Under, a welcomed notion by many English veteran cricketers until the afternoon Jason Holder bamboozled the hosts' batting lineup with his record-scripting 6/72 in the first innings. Many also justified the idea questioning - When was the last time Broad picked up a five-wicket haul in Test cricket at home?
Even a few years back, Broad, despite his high career wicket tally, always held a doubt as a future prospect of England's pace bowling lineup. In the 25 Tests he played between 2016 and 2017, Broad picked 78 wickets at 30.21. 45 of those scalps were from the 14 home Tests, coming at 29.88 an average. In both the categories, he was England's second-highest wicket-taker behind James Anderson, clearly implying that the veteran was always the one to rely on. Anderson averaged 14.60 at home in picking 60 wickets in the 13 Tests. The period ended with England's 4-0 humiliation in Australia in the Ashes and management questioned the idea of having Broad alongside Anderson for the next Ashes at home.

But a newer Broad began to take shape on the second morning at the Hagley Oval in March 2018, courtesy, Joe Root's insistence on England's new-ball pair to pitch the ball fuller in length. And in no time New Zealand were four down for 17 runs. Broad, in particular, was transformed. Bowling 30 cms fuller than normal, as measured by CricViz, Broad drew two batters to throw their bats to drive, before striking the front pad of Henry Nicholls dismissing him on an lbw. Had it been the old Broad, the ball the moved back in would have gone over the stumps on ball-tracking, but the fuller-length tactic made the difference.