Stuart Broad: It was frustrating, Indian pitches are faster than this

Stuart Broad

After India recovered from a middle session collapse that drew comparisons with Trent Bridge, 2011 and Durban, 2013, through a spirited fightback from the last wicket pair, England pacer Stuart Broad didn’t hide his frustrations on toiling hard for nearly two and a half hours.

"It was frustrating, but we tried pretty much everything with the ball,” said the 28-year-old speaking to Sky Sports.

“The ball was 50 overs old leading up to the new ball, and it wasn't really doing a huge amount. There wasn't much for length, so it was quite hard to buy a wicket. You were almost hoping for a batsman error and, credit to the 10 and 11 of India, they didn't give us that error, really,” mentioned the bowler who bowled 33 overs in the Indian innings that lasted 161 overs.

"Indian wickets are faster than this wicket. But we didn't get frustrated with it, we weren't moping or swearing around, we were just trying to get wickets. As a fast bowler you want to see a slip cordon and a gully. It was quite different and hard bowling with three catchers in cover," added Broad after the second day’s play.

The latest to join the complaint list against the curators for the slow deck, Broad claimed England never wanted the pitch to behave this way. "It's certainly not what England would have asked for and not what Trent Bridge would have hoped for. I think the best thing that's happened is Trent Bridge have come out and said 'Look, our mistake', and apologised for the pitch.

"Trent Bridge is renowned for exciting cricket. You come here to see nicks carry, dropped catches, good runs, exciting shots and quick bowling. We've not really seen a lot of that. I just hope that other grounds don't follow suit," Broad, who plies his trade for Nottingham in the County championships at the same ground stated.

Broad however defended his team’s performance pointing to the fact that they claimed 4 wickets for 2 runs, called the pitch as a batting track: "It's a good pitch to bat on. We stuck to our guns fantastically well – 457 could have been 600, no question about that. We bowled really well".

On responding to this Indian total: “We have to make use of days three and four and try to put the Indians under pressure on the last day.

"If we can get a good start and build, I'm sure the Indian bowlers won't be looking forward to bowling at Ben Stokes coming in at No. 8 when they're a bit tired. We can certainly get a big score if we get our heads down," Broad predicted.