Stuart Broad isn’t a bad bloke.
The news may come as a shock to some Australians, who subjected the England paceman to all manner of insults during the most recent Ashes series.
But Adam Voges, a teammate of Broad’s at county Nottinghamshire, only has good things to say about the straight-talking, non-walking antagonist of the past two Ashes.
“I’ve played a lot with him,” Voges said.
“Off the field he’s a nice guy and I’ve always got along well with him.”
But don’t expect that to be the case on Wednesday, when the long-awaited series gets underway in Cardiff.
“It’s always different when you walk across the white line and I don’t think we’ll be saying too much to each other,” Voges said.
“Once it’s all finished I’m sure we’ll have a beer afterwards, but we’re here for business now and that’s how it will be.”
Broad became a pantomime villain when he revelled in not walking during the 2013 Ashes.
Coach Darren Lehmann called on Australian fans to make Broad “cry” during the return series due to his “blatant cheating”.
Broad has continued to speak his mind, recently saying Steve Smith’s promotion to first drop was advantageous to England.
With the exception of Broad, Voges has faced all of England’s bowlers during previous county seasons.
The 35-year-old hopes it will give him an advantage this week, but admits the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood could easily see it the other way.
“I don’t think there’s going to be anything there I haven’t seen before,” he said.
“I guess that’s an advantage for me, but they’ve seen me as well.”
Voges, who was named man of the match on Test debut against the West Indies, expects there to be a little bit of niggle in Cardiff.
“In the heat of the moment – and that’s ok. That’s fine,” he said.
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