Stuart Broad promises entertaining cricket against Sri Lanka and Pakistan

England pacer Stuart Broad stated that the team will look to play entertaining cricket when they face off against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the upcoming months.

Having recently beaten South Africa in the Test series, England are currently placed fifth in the Test rankings and the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan is an opportunity to improve their position.

England currently hold seven bilateral Test series trophies out of the top nine Test playing nations with Sri Lanka and Pakistan being the only two teams they are yet to beat in recent times.

Broad wants England to go on and win the series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan so that they will complete a sweep of all the nine bilateral Test trophies available.

“We’re in a great place as an England cricket team,” Broad told Sky Sports News HQ.

“There are a lot of people being talked about for England spots which is always a bonus and we have seven of the nine Test trophies available to us.

“The two we don’t have are Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

“They’re here this summer and what an opportunity that is, what a motivation that is for a group of guys to fight throughout the summer and play some exciting cricket and entertain.”

In recent times, England have drawn the series against New Zealand while losing the contest with Pakistan but have managed to win the 2015 Ashes apart from beating South Africa.

Though England have not been able to string together a consistent set of results, Broad feels that by playing more games, the issue of consistency will be resolved.

“Part of the new philosophy of England cricket is to win games of course but we also want to entertain the people watching and we’ll be looking to do that every day we step on to that field.

“We’ve got a young squad so we’ve had a few inconsistent days but the more cricket we play the better we’ll get at that.

“But whatever we do, we will do it with a smile on our face and in a positive manner.”

Recently, England captain Alastair Cook was found to have breached the helmet safety regulations of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) by wearing an old style helmet which has an adjustable grille.

Broad, who was once injured due to the ball sneaking past his grille, recollected the incidents involving Phillip Hughes and Craig Kieswetter but understands why Cook feels confident with the old helmet.

The 29-year-old said that as a batsman, Cook has been playing with the older helmet for quite a long time, which makes it very difficult to adjust, especially when the vision is hampered.

“In the past couple of years, there have been a few instances that have been pretty tough.

“Craig Kieswetter had to retire with a fractured cheekbone and obviously the Phillip Hughes scenario was just awful.

“I had one that went through the grille and broke my nose in both places so I’ve obviously experienced the wrong side of it.

“But there are batsmen out there - Cookie has scored nearly 10,000 runs in a particular style.

“It’s hard for him to change and adjust.

“I’m more of a bowler so I will take safety first whereas someone like Cookie or Jonathan Trott, their careers are batting, their careers are scoring runs, so I understand they don’t want to take the risk of losing sight of the ball for a split second or feeling uncomfortable.

“Cookie averaged 45 or 46 with that particular helmet so he doesn’t want to run the risk of getting out early or costing us a Test match by changing a helmet.”

England’s Test campaign against Sri Lanka will begin with the first match on 19th May in Leeds after which the action shifts to Chester-le-Street and Lord’s for the second and third games respectively.

© Cricket World 2016