Broad & Co work their angles out

England may be riding on a high but they are certainly not taking things easy,not even on the eve of their one-off T20 international against India.

England may be riding on a high but they are certainly not taking things easy,not even on the eve of their one-off T20 international against India,as the home team played a practice match on Tuesday to get into the groove and get used to the conditions on the newly-refurbished Old Trafford stadium.

It was very match-like and that is what we wanted to create. We know weve got quite a long rest period until the game starts at 6pm (local time) tomorrow. A few of us havent played at Old Trafford since the square was turned around,so it was good to have a bowl. The practice session had an intensity,which is something we want to implement tomorrow, explained Stuart Broad,the new English T20 captain.

Since 1857,the pitches on Old Trafford ground had been laid in the east-west axis. This caused the late evening sun to shine directly at the eye level of the batsmen at the crease. In July,2010 however,Lancashire decided to relay the pitches in the north-south axis. England have since played a single one day international against Sri Lanka on July 9 this year,which they won by 16 runs.

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The change meant players had to get used to different boundaries. Broad said that the practice match was to get used to different angles of the ground.What were straight boundaries earlier are now sweeper boundaries. We need to get used to the size of boundaries.

The rotation of the pitches also resulted in a change in their characteristics. The wicket has changed since they turned the square around. It used to be one of the quickest in the world and now it does take more spin,so well see what the side will be, said Broad.