Stuart Broad 'excited' about England return at Lord's against New Zealand
- Planet Sport writer
- 31 May 2022
Stuart Broad admits he is “flying” at being back around the England team after his winter omission for the tour to West Indies.
New captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have brought Broad and James Anderson back into the fold for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.
Broad, who is basking in the glory of Nottingham Forest winning promotion to the Premier League, said: "I am flying, I am just excited to be around.
"The chance of being at the home of cricket and the home of football in the same week, if you'd have told my 12-year-old self that I wouldn't have believed you.
"It is going to be a great week."
Broad is looking forward to a new era under Stokes and McCullum and is excited for the future.
He added: "Very much so, it was a big change in the leadership above the team's head and there are really good guys there and we are looking forward to getting moving on the pitch.
"We have only been together as a squad since Monday morning. Brendan and Stokesy have led one training session and we go again this afternoon.
"There is an exciting feel to the group. We went to St George's Park last week for a couple of days and the team meal that night there was a lot of energy and a lot of focus to get going for an international summer."
Ticket prices 'embarassing'
One negative to begin the week with is the news that there could be thousands of empty seats throughout the Test Match - despite the new era under Stokes and McCullum on the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend.
According to the Daily Telegraph, an estimated 20,000 tickets are left remaining for the opening four days.
The Barmy Army have said tickets are between £100-160, and former captain Michael Vaughan has labelled it as 'embarassing'.
On Tuesday, Vaughan tweeted, "Lords not being full this week is embarrassing for the game…
"Try & blame the Jubilee if they want but I guarantee if tickets weren't 100-160 pounds it would be jam packed! Why are they so expensive?"
In another tweet, Vaughan added: "How about working out a way to get the tickets remaining at Lords to kids with a parent for £40 to make sure it is full... it's the school holidays and lots of kids will be around to go to the Test match?"
How about working out a way to get the tickets remaining at Lords to kids with a parent for £40 to make sure it is full .. it’s the school holidays and lots of kids will be around to go to the Test match ?? @HomeOfCricket ??? #Lords #ENGvNZ
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 31, 2022
The opening Test between England and New Zealand takes place at Lord's on Thursday.
