'I am struggling to put things into context' - Stuart Broad opens up on England snub

Pace spearhead Stuart Broad has revealed that he was hit pretty hard with England‘s recent decision of dropping him and the veteran pacer James Anderson out of the West Indies series. Broad said that he failed to understand the reason after the ‘5-minute’ phone call with the ECB. And he has faced trouble sleeping ever since the incident happened.

“I am struggling to put things into context. It’s hard to do so when all you’ve had is a five-minute phone call and nothing else,” Stuart Broad wrote in his Mail on Sunday column. “Not to big it up too much but it has affected my sleep. I said to my partner Mollie one morning that my body felt sore. She suggested that would be stress. No, I can’t pretend I am as good as gold, because I am not. It would be wrong to act like everything’s OK.”

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Both Broad and James Anderson are England’s two highest wicket-takers in Tests with 640 and 537 wickets. Both were part of England’s 0-4 Ashes series defeat. While Anderson grabbed eight wickets at an average of 23.37, Broad picked up a five-wicket-haul in Sydney as well. ECB’s interim director Andrew Strauss has added that this is not the end of the road for England’s most dangerous fast-bowling duo, but Stuart Broad is struggling to find out why he was left from the tour as well.

‘Neither Jimmy nor I saw this coming’ – Stuart Broad

“I took 11 wickets in the final two Ashes matches, I have been Test match standard for a long time and, for the last eight years, you would say world class. I could take being dropped if I had let my standards slip but facing up to being overlooked when they haven’t is another thing altogether,” he again added.

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He continued: “And so, it makes it even more upsetting that they don’t see me part of their immediate plans, especially with a view to looking at a way of winning away from home, which was briefly explained to me. That’s why I was so outspoken when I was left out against West Indies in Southampton a couple of years ago. It felt unjust. The same again here.”

“Understandably, people will ask if there has therefore been some fall-out behind the scenes, a bit of a rumble during the Ashes, but I can categorically say that is not the case. Hence, neither Jimmy nor I saw this coming. We were blindsided,” Stuart Broad concluded.