Saturday 7 June 2014 13:02, UK
Stuart Broad admits he is excited about Sam Robson's inclusion in the England squad for the forthcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
Sydney-born Robson joins fellow debutants Chris Jordan and Moeen Ali in Peter Moores' first Test squad in his second spell as England head coach.
Speaking at The Oval, where he was mentoring youngsters during Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week, Broad revealed his team-mates at county level rate Robson as one of the best players in the country.
"Sam is only young and he's obviously got a lot of cricket ahead of him," Broad told Sky Sports News.
"Just speaking to my Nottinghamshire team-mates over the last couple of weeks they seem to believe that Sam, along with Ed Joyce, are the best players in county cricket that they've bowled to.
"That's a huge testament to Sam and proves that he's a very talented player.
"I've not played against him. I've only met him very briefly at Loughborough University but I'm looking forward to watching him bat against Sri Lanka on Thursday or Friday."
Broad is also backing Jordan and Ali to transfer impressive performances at One-Day level to the Test arena.
"Chris' name has been around for probably a year or so, with guys talking about how good this player is," Broad said. "It's been great to see him come in with the white ball and have some success.
"For Mo and Chris they've both performed and had some success with the white ball which can help them relax into this week.
"They've obviously played on the international stage and they know what it's like the added pressure and the added intensity.
"They can both relax and play their natural games because they've both performed in One-Day cricket over the winter."
Broad was speaking ahead of former England batsman Kevin Pietersen's return to domestic cricket with Surrey.
The 27-year-old was asked if he ever thought about what might have been had dressing room relations been more cordial, but Broad insisted England must now look to the future.
Just speaking to my Nottinghamshire team-mates over the last couple of weeks they seem to believe that Sam, along with Ed Joyce, are the best players in county cricket that they've bowled to.
"Kev has been a fantastic player for England there's no doubt about that." Broad said.
"We've had huge success with him in the side but sport and cricket always moves on.
"We saw it with Andrew Flintoff in 2009. A lot of people wondered where the team would go to when Fred retired and the team actually went from strength to strength.
"I'm not saying that will happen this time around but it certainly can happen. Other people step up to the plate and have to score Test runs when big players aren't there anymore.
"Opportunities will arise for people to do that and one thing is for sure, players always move on in sport but sport is always there."
