Broad goes his own way

Stuart Broad took four wickets in the last match © Getty Images

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Stuart Broad will be happy to have a family quarrel over his winter ambitions with England.

Broad has his sights set on the Test tour of Sri Lanka, despite his father Chris’s belief he will be better served packing his suitcase for the England A trip to India.

In the aftermath of Broad’s man-of-the-match display in England’s NatWest Series victory over India at Old Trafford, former international batsman Broad senior suggested New Zealand later in the winter would be a more suitable destination for a first full tour.

“He has got my best interests at heart, I chat to him every day on the phone and he has got some great points, but you have to filter the information he gives,” said Broad.

The 21-year-old took four wickets and hit an unbeaten 45 on Thursday to put England 3-1 up ahead of the fifth match at Headingley Carnegie.

“He wants me to be playing rather than carrying the drinks but if I am on a Test tour you are fighting to be playing and have a chance of playing any time when you’re there.

“Every time you get a ball or bat in your hand it’s a chance to impress on a tour like that and it is any county cricketer’s dream to play Test cricket.

“If you’re on the tour you have a chance. Test cricket is my major objective, so I would have to disagree with my dad on that one if I am brutally honest. But he is welcome to have his opinion.”

Broad senior, now one of the International Cricket Council’s match referees, has been outspoken throughout his son’s short career.

Broad senior added: “If you look at the Test bowlers, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff are still much ahead of him at the moment.

“Would you take a young bowler on a tour like that to carry the drinks? I think he’s better off playing.”

Responding to his father’s latest observations at NatWest Speed Stars challenge in Leeds, Broad added: “He is very pro playing.

“He is big on going away in winters, playing and learning as you go along, that is how he did it in his day.

“But being involved in the England set-up is an absolute honour and I am loving every minute of it.

“And of course I would rather be in the Test side than the A side.”