Stuart Broad believes the England team have a once in a lifetime opportunity as the country prepares to play host to both a men’s World Cup and Ashes this year.
For the first time since the inaugural men’s World Cup in 1975, England will be staging the two biggest events in its international calendar — the 50-over global showpiece and a Test series against Australia — in the same home season.
“It’s awesome, the summer of our generation,” England paceman Broad said on Thursday. “What an opportunity for the game to grow and inspire.”
“I look back to when I was a kid, you get inspired by big series like World Cups and the Ashes,” explained Broad, whose father Chris, an opening batsman, was a key member of the England side that enjoyed a triumphant tour of Australia in 1986/87.
“That’s the added pressure on us as players,” the four-time Ashes-winner said. “We can make this a summer to remember by winning trophies.”
No England men’s team have yet won a one-day World Cup, with the 2010 World Twenty20 their lone ICC trophy.
