sport

Broad hoping for home comforts

Stuart Broad is relishing the chance to become a hometown hero in Nottingham for the second year running.

The England seamer took 11 wickets to help his side get the three-match Investec Test series against the West Indies off to a winning start at Lord's and is sure to be at the forefront again on Friday when the battle moves to Trent Bridge.

Broad has been visiting the ground since he was a child watching his father Chris play for Nottinghamshire, who he has played for twice this season in between international commitments.

But his most cherished memory of Trent Bridge came last season when he claimed a Test hat-trick against India, dismissing Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar with successive deliveries.

Broad, 25, has not forgotten the magical atmosphere that spell created and is relishing the chance to recreate it against the Windies.

"I love playing at Trent Bridge, I think it's one of the best grounds in the world and a lot of the other guys love it too. If you bowl well there's always something in it for you," he said.

"I have very fond memories (of the hat-trick). It was definitely one of the highlights of my career.

"We got the new ball when India were in a very strong position. I remember Straussy said 'let's go for broke. Let's try to hit the stumps. Don't worry too much about the runs because we need to make to make some breakthroughs'. Fortunately that worked me.

"I don't think it could have been much better. It was a Saturday evening about 5pm and the crowd was really lively. The atmosphere was incredible when I bowled Kumar for the hat-trick. It went wild.

"I think being on your home ground, where you have the support, as well as your family and friends, is always a fantastic feeling."

Team-mate Alastair Cook, meanwhile, has praised the use of floodlights during the five-wicket win at Lord's.

Where in previous series significant time has been lost to bad light - frustrating teams pushing for victory as well as the paying public - the hours of play were maximised in the opening Test due to both sides' pre-series agreement to use artificial light.

"We wouldn't have won that game without the lights," Cook said.

"I think that fourth day was a prime example of why lights should be used in Test cricket.

"There's a good case for using them now. I don't think we'd have got much play (on day four), certainly not the 80 or 90-odd overs we got. It probably would've been hard to get a result because we wouldn't have got more than 30 or 40 overs in."

The tourists expect Tino Best to join them in training on Thursday for the first time since he replaced the injured Shannon Gabriel.

He will provide fast bowling cover with Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul both carrying niggles.