There’s nothing wrong with playing to your strengths on home soil. Everyone does it, says Stuart Broad.
The age-old debate of home advantage has hit the headlines again over the last couple of weeks, triggered by the remarkable turnaround in Pakistan’s fortunes having gone one-nil down to England at home in the recent Test Series.
For those who didn’t follow as closely, during the First Test Match, Harry Brook scored a first triple-hundred, Joe Root added 260-odd, and Pakistan were beaten by a team that played better in the conditions that presented themselves for that particular Test.
It almost seemed like a crime for a home team in the sub-continent; producing a flat track that didn’t play to their natural strengths.
A week later, Pakistan went full circle. They used the same wicket in Multan but picked two different spinners in Sajid Khan and Noman Ali. They created conditions that were very foreign to the England team, and it delivered instant success.
Khan and Ali took all 20 English wickets in that second Test, before the same pair claimed 19 of the 20 wickets the following week during the Final Test in Rawalpindi.
The images of those giant fans drying out the wickets were all over social media, and it worked.
It was a clear statement from Pakistan to say we are going to create home conditions that suit us.
The images of those giant fans drying out the wickets were all over social media, and it worked. Pakistan won the series 2-1 and showed clearly the benefit of home advantage when applied correctly.
To be clear, this isn’t anything new! I can remember during my career when touring with England where home advantage would be applied.
Coming into a ground on Day 5 of a Test Match when we were batting to either win or save a game, to find the nets have all been watered and covered and the coaches having to adapt plans. This happened a couple of times!
As a bowling unit, we always used to bowl in the middle a couple of days out from the start of a Test to get a feel for the crease, the wicket and the surroundings.
But in Australia, we’d very rarely get the opportunity to bowl out in the middle prior to a Test Match, instead bowling in nets. It’s these nuances that can add up to become a sizable home advantage in the heat of a competitive series.
It’s less visible on how you can adjust those playing conditions in football, rugby, or even golf. It’s often more subtle. If I think of football, Rory Delap comes to mind. His long throw ins terrified Premier League defenders for years.
But teams appeared to latch on to the long run up he had and ground staff were instructed to bring in the advertising hoardings slightly, which forced him to change his approach.
There is arguably no better current example of home and away advantage in sport, than the Ryder Cup. I remember quite clearly in Paris in 2018 that the European team led by Thomas Bjorn, set the course up to have very heavy rough, almost like US Open conditions.
The American team was made up of golfers who hit big bombs and would want to bully the Europeans with length, but they found a course that was setup to suit a European team made up of more accurate drivers. The strategy worked perfectly; Europe were rewarded for their accuracy, whilst the bigger hitting Americans struggled from the rough all week.
This theme has continued since with quite one-sided matches at Whistling Straits & Marco Simone where the home team has come out on top, and you’d imagine will be the biggest challenge for Luke Donald and his team at Bethpage next year when looking to secure a highly coveted away win (a first since Medinah in 2012).
I think of some of the most memorable matches were those away wins.
The changing room is also another home where home advantage could be applied behind the scenes. My team, Leicester Tigers; the away changing room at Welford Road is basically a concrete box, compared to the home one.
It’s something that is evident in most stadiums, where the home team – quite rightly – gets the priority, and for the away team, life can be made quite difficult for them. Whether that’s less space, fewer amenities, the occasional cold shower!
From experience, all of those tricks can come in to play! The only stadium I can think of where the home & away changing rooms are very similar is Lord’s, the Home of Cricket. They like to keep parity and have a mirror image in terms of the facilities on offer in the Pavilion. Who knows, maybe that’s why England Men’s record there isn’t quite as good as it as other grounds in England & Wales!
I also think the role of a home crowd can also play a huge role in advantage. On the morning of a home Test Match, we knew the first over would feature a rendition of Jerusalem from the Barmy Army, and it always the ignition that got us in to the day, as well as I imagine reminding the opposition of where they were.
The ‘first-tee’ at Ryder Cups has become something of an event in itself, with home fans filling the grandstands, trying to get their team off to a fast start. The same in football, where fans have their regular anthem they sing before the teams come out.
At the City Ground, we sing ‘Mull of Kintyre’ and you can see how it lifts a team at the start of a game, but also gives that sense of familiarity. Visiting teams know that they have a game on their hands.
The rugby last weekend at Twickenham provided one of the most iconic moments before an international, in the Haka. Not many people know this, but England versus New Zealand is always quite a big battle for our family, as my sister was born in Auckland and lived there for a few years.
I know there were some comments in the media last week about it, but I was there nice and early at Twickenham to take in the Haka. I think it’s an amazing spectacle.
It’s so much more than a pre-match ‘moment’, it’s something that is embedded in New Zealand culture, from schools through to adult life. It’s a rare occasion where the away team can showcase their heritage and culture, and an opportunity for opposing nations to show their respect to that.
For me, some of the greatest achievements in my career involved winning away from home, and if I think of some of the most memorable matches, they were those away wins. You’re fully aware of the challenges you will come up against as the away team, and that’s what I think makes the wins that bit more special.
I’m all for home advantage continuing to count in sport and will be hoping it does just that when my 3rd-placed Forest host Newcastle this coming weekend!
The guys at Fitzdares have given me a £500 free bet pot to use on on a selection of the major sporting events over the next month. All the profits will go to my Motor Neurone Disease charity — The Broad Appeal. Last month, I raised £400. Here’s what I’m backing…
£100 England @ 6/4
England v New Zealand, 2nd Nov
£100 Ireland @ 4/6
Ireland v New Zealand, 8th Nov
£100 Charles Leclerc @ 7/4
Las Vegas Grand Prix, 24th Nov
£100 Nottingham Forest @ 4/5
Notts Forest vs Ipswich, 30th Nov
£100 Aston Villa @ 6/4
Aston Villa vs Juventus, Champions League, 27th Nov
Stuart Broad is Fitzdares’ first-ever global Brand Ambassador.
