Broad recalls having to take the new ball in a Test for the first time, in his most familiar surroundings at Trent Bridge previous year – when he delivered with an astonishing career-best eight for 15 in one of the most memorable spells in Ashes history as England bowled Australia out for 60 and regained the urn with an innings victory inside three days. Asif was a teenager then and was handed a five-year ban by the ICC.
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Former England opener Marcus Trescothick, who now plays for Somerset, also warned Alastair Cook’s men to expect a tough time in the middle facing the left-armer.
Left-arm fast bowler Amir returned to worldwide cricket earlier this year and the 24-year-old could now make his Test comeback at Lord’s.
Amir took part in the tour game against Somerset last week and snared four wickets across the two innings while giving away 78 runs in the 26 overs he bowled in the match.
Now the cricket correspondent of British daily The Times, the influential Atherton’s stance has helped smooth Amir’s path back into the worldwide arena. But my schedule is too busy and my loyalty to England means, at this stage, I would not want to work against them.
He said: “Toby has had a really good summer so far and has been there or thereabouts for the last three years or so”.
“So I thought ‘everything is on me.’ It does sharpen your mind a bit and that added pressure can either melt you a little bit or get you excited to push you through”.
“He has the best chance to prove himself in the middle.We are there to support him”.
Amir has now served time and his ban and this week will be his first Test back.
“Yes, I was nervous at Trent Bridge”, he said.
“The pace is there and he is swinging the ball and has all the tricks to get the batsman out”.
Their all-time leading wicket-taker will be a very signifcant absentee, should his stress fracture of the shoulder blade in his bowling arm keep him out for long.
Amir has been the target of much criticism ever since he was named in the Pakistani squad for the tour to England. “His bowling stats have improved a lot and he is a very decent bowler and it will be good to see him around the squad for the first time this week”.
The batsman was a surprise call-up to the squad for the opener at Lord’s on Thursday having last played for England at Test level a year ago against Australia.
“Hopefully, with the external stuff here, with Mohammad coming back, we can continue that relationship”.
“It will be hard for us”.
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“One thing we can hope for this series is that the cricket is what we all talk about”. One of the secrets of his successful partnership with Anderson has been the ease of communication between the pair, and he knows he may need to be available to lend an ear to his team-mates if the going gets tough during the coming days.
