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“It’s a winter that was a disaster, but as an England side we have to look forward now”
England pace bowler Stuart Broad has announced that it is time for the national team to move forward and leave their disastrous tour of Australia in the past.
England were whitewashed 5-0 in the Ashes series and 3-0 in the Twenty20 series, while also losing the ODI series 4-1.
By the time their tour had concluded, England had lost batsman Jonathan Trott to a stress-related illness, off-spinner Graeme Swann to retirement, team director Andy Flower and flamboyant batsman Kevin Pietersen.
“I was aware of discussions towards the end of the Australia tour but I was not deeply involved particularly,” Broad said. “It was a decision made by guys that have the English cricket team at their heart, and they want the team to improve.
“The guys that made the decision are very keen for England cricket to move forward, there’s no egos involved in making decisions like this.
“It’s about improving performances on the field and atmospheres off it. All I can focus on is this trip now.
“Personally I’ve not captained Kev a huge amount, but when I did 2012 I think was the last time, and he put in a couple of match-winning performances. He’s done that for many a year but we’ve also won some great games without him.
“I have fond memories of KP from 2010 when he was the kingpin in helping us win that (Twenty20) World cup.
“But it’s time for the guys in that changing room to realise they can be match-winners and can step up now.
“The decision was taken from guys who were desperate for England to improve in the future, not just in the next four or five months.
“We do have to make improvements, that’s obvious, it was heart-breaking to lose 5-0 and we lost a lot of good men in doing that.
“It’s a winter that was a disaster, but as an England side we have to look forward now. We can’t dwell on it now and we must move forward.”
England now have to move on without Pietersen and Broad has done so by directing his attention towards the upcoming limited overs tour of the West Indies and the World Twenty20.
“There’s no doubt Kev was a fantastic player for England, part of a hugely successful era,” Broad said. “But we’ve got to look forward to these games and the Caribbean.
“We don’t spend a lot of time together as a T20 side, so we’ve got to make use of these next three weeks.
“We are going to Bangladesh in three weeks’ time with an opportunity to show something different.
“When you’ve lost so many games over the last six months, it hurts, so we’ve just got to get back to winning to be honest.
“Twenty20 is about match-winners and taking the game by the scruff of the neck, so that’s the challenge for this young group now.
“There’s no doubt the players let Andy Flower down this winter, the coach can only do so much.
“We let the coaches down this winter and it’s up to the players to respond and perform on the field.”