Thursday 29 January 2015 14:23, UK
Stuart Broad's gradual return to form could work in England's favour at the World Cup, according to Matthew Hoggard.
Broad is back in the side after recovering from knee surgery, but the Nottinghamshire seamer is yet to take a wicket in the ongoing tri-series against Australia and India.
Friday morning's shoot-out with India for a place in the final represents a chance to change that statistic, but Broad told Sky Sports News HQ on Wednesday he is unconcerned by his lack of wickets.
And that view is shared by former England paceman Hoggard, who told Sky Sports News HQ: "Stuart Broad is pivotal for England. He's been injured, and historically it's always taken him a little bit of time to settle down and get back into form.
"The build-up with games against India and Australia will be very important to Stuart, but we all know you don't want to peak too early in the World Cup.
"If we can get through group stage and into the quarter-finals and semi-finals then it's anybody's game, and Stuart will be striving to get better every game he plays."
The same is true of Steven Finn, according to Hoggard, who was speaking at a session of his newly-founded Matthew Hoggard Cricket coaching initiave.
Finn is back taking international wickets a year after he left an Ashes tour of Australia following a breakdown in his action.
Hoggard said: "He's put in a lot of hard work. He's gone back to England and back to basics, not thinking about the game and running up and bowling quick.
"His form has improved, but his pace is just a couple of miles-an-hour down from his peak, so again he's gaining confidence and he's only going to get more confident."
Watch England v India live on Sky Sports 2 from 3am on Friday morning.
