Disappointed it had to end like this: Broad

Stuart Broad pleaded for patience from fans after England was knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 2012. A strong Sri Lankan team outclassed England in the final Group 1 match of the Super Eights by 19 runs.   

“It’s disappointing to end that way. The three wickets in that Malinga over damaged us quite a bit, which was a shame, really, because we got quite a nice little start there. The way Samit Patel played spin was encouraging,” said Broad. “He looked a class act out there. If we had just hung around and played for him, anything could have happened, because the ball just disappears in the last five overs. Throughout the tournament we’ve not been good enough.”   

Broad, however, sought to downplay just how well Malinga had bowled to pick up five wickets. “It’s quite a funny one, really. He had a short and wide one caught at point, one caught mid-off and a leg-side lbw that was missing six stumps,” said Broad. “He hurt us with those three wickets and you could see why the IPL pay him millions, but the balls that got wickets weren’t jaffas, were they?”   

Broad also pointed to the fact that his was a young team on a steep learning curve. “What you get with young guys is some days a bit of brilliance and a bit of average-ness on other days. As a team, over the last few weeks we’ve shown that. It has been a learning experience,” said Broad. “Looking at Paul Collingwood’s side, it took him the experience of being involved in three World Cups before finding the formula to then go out there and win it. When we go to the next World Cup we will have guys who have the experience of playing in these tournaments.”   

Broad also pointed to the positives for his team. “Eoin Morgan has shown his class and Luke Wright has shown his maturity. We just didn’t have the batting unit firing together as often as we needed it,” said Broad. “You look at domestic cricket and it is these youngsters who are performing. When you come into the international scene it is a learning experience. As long as these guys keep learning they will develop. In some ways, when we came to the ground today, we were in a situation where we had to win three games to win a World Cup. So we were frustratingly close in that sense.”