As a wily old pro Stuart Broad has long since learned to deal with the ups and downs that come with being a subject of critique. But after the captain who handed him his Test cap 10 years ago called for him during the week to be dropped he was not going to let it lie.
It was Michael Vaughan who used both his Telegraph column and BBC radio show after the dismal defeat at Lord’s to suggest that either Broad or Jimmy Anderson should perhaps miss out at Headingley to “ruffle a few feathers” in what he perceives to be a cosy England team.
Broad, speaking after his impressive display of three for 38 led the charge for Joe Root’s side as they gutted Pakistan for 174 on the opening day, admitted the criticism did in fact sting a touch, such that he even called Vaughan to get to the bottom of it.
“I like punditry, I find it interesting,” said Broad after stumps. “I respect everyone’s opinion, especially when it’s fair. But this time it did anger me a little bit because I thought it was unfair and targeted. I’m not going to hold a personal grudge. I just didn’t feel like I really deserved that last week and I thought I’d express that opinion to him.”
And the charge of the team being too cosy? “It’s a complete shot in the dark, isn’t it? He doesn’t know what the changing room is like. I don’t think he’s got much insight into it at all.
“The players don’t talk much to him about cricket or what’s going on. So it’s a wild guess. But then columns and radio shows need ‘likes’ and airtime.”
Whatever the reason, Root and the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, desperately needed the response that followed. The wickets may have been shared but, as the players left the field at 3.28pm, satisfied with their two sessions of work despite a late rally via Shadab Khan, it was fitting the wide-brimmed sunhat of Broad was front and centre.
Perhaps the worm turned for Root when he lost the toss. Sarfraz Ahmed was either unaware of the adage to “look up, not down” here or maybe, like the German tennis player Alexander Zverev, he did not understand a Yorkshire accent (the Pakistan captain had a spell playing Twenty20 for the club last year).
Though certainly no howler, given the bare beige pitch laid out, the soupy conditions of cloud and humidity suggested the ball might well swing. While the expectation then is for Anderson to come into his own, it was more the seam-oriented Broad who set the standard with a two-wicket burst up front and, according to CricViz, his greatest amount of movement through the air for nearly three years.
True, the delivery that Imam-ul-Haq slashed to Root at third slip in his second over may have been full and wide. But it was a tantalising change from a nagging line that had already meant the opener was reprieved on review second ball after being given out lbw, and one that this bespectacled nephew of the great Inzamam could not resist.
Similarly the removal of Azhar Ali was a fine working over, offering the right-hander some width with a succession of balls before the full straight surprise produced the simplest of lbw decisions. A lone Pakistan fan in the stands could be seen wiping Azhar’s name from a chalkboard that he had briefly been holding up, ready for the next batsman to get behind.
From there England’s attack scarcely looked back, with Chris Woakes making good use of Broad’s slipstream on his return from the Indian Premier League to gouge out two further strikes before lunch – underlining how useful he might have been a week ago – and Anderson, too easily left in his opening spell, piling in during the afternoon.
Three wickets apiece was the final analysis for the senior trio – Broad’s third, Usman Salahuddin lbw, took him level with Wasim Akram on 414 Test wickets – with Sam Curran also opening his account on debut.
The 19-year-old will doubtless have his game pored over by the pundits in the coming days and years; he could do worse than speak to Broad about how best to cope with it all.