Broad range gives Stuart edge

Stuart Broad's height could be a big advantage in England's seam attack © Getty Images

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Stuart Broad’s all-round ability looks set to give him the edge in the battle to replace Steve Harmison in England’s attack this week.

The 21-year-old Leicestershire fast bowler was named in the squad for Thursday’s first Test against India as cover for Harmison, who has since been ruled out of the entire series due to a hernia operation.

Meanwhile, Matthew Hoggard has gone for a scan on his back and is rated as extremely doubtful for the upcoming Test.

Broad’s ability to generate pace and bounce gives him an advantage over Lancashire seamer James Anderson as India are perceived to have a weakness against short-pitched bowling.

But it is his potential to score runs at number eight which may secure his Test debut, as it gives him an extra dimension over 6ft 7ins Hampshire seamer Chris Tremlett, who was later added to the squad.

“He’s got a bit of pedigree as a batter because he played as a batter in youth cricket and that’s certainly an advantage,” explained England coach Peter Moores.

“To have depth in the batting line-up is important, we all know that. It can put the icing on the cake, it can pull you out of a troublesome spot and sometimes you can’t always get the balance you would want in the team.

“What is promising is that we’ve had (Ryan) Sidebottom show that he can hang around with the bat and hit the ball.

“There are people down there that we can develop but in an ideal world we would have a number eight who will be able to go out and get a 50.”

Broad has proved his worth with the bat for England

Broad showed his potential to do that with a half-century against India for the England Lions over the weekend which, in addition to a five-wicket haul, boosted his confidence after conceding 71 runs in nine overs in his previous one-day international outing against West Indies.

But Moores stressed: “That was a different format of the game. The positive is that he’s come here on the back of a five-wicket haul and a 50 during the Lions game against India, which is great for his confidence and his belief.”

While Broad hopes to make his Test debut at Lord’s, Harmison is unlikely to be seen in England colours again until the Test tour to Sri Lanka starting in mid-November.

His operation on Tuesday is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks and, as he retired from one-day international cricket during the winter, rules him out of the remainder of England’s summer schedule.

Harmison was booked in for the operation after suffering a recurrence of the problem in Durham’s County Championship match against Sussex last week after it was first diagnosed nearly a month ago during the final Test against West Indies.

“He wanted to play again against Sussex because he wanted to be ready for this Test, which are all very positive signs and it’s just disappointing that he’s gone,” added Moores.

“But when you have something like this, once you’ve got fit you have six weeks of muscle wastage and you have to build that up before you start bowling again.

“We’ve got to take that now and it will provide an opportunity for someone else and we’ll know a bit more about another bowler by the end of this Test.”