Stuart Broad benefiting from strict diet regime

Broad has become a key figure in the England Test side is the Twenty20 captain

Nottinghamshire and England fast bowler Stuart Broad says he is feeling the benefit of a strict diet while he recovered from injury in the winter.

Broad returned to action in style on England's tour to face Pakistan, taking seven wickets and scoring 50 runs in the first warm-up match in Dubai.

And he said the eating plan has paid dividends: "It was hard work and by the end I was dying for a chocolate bar.

"But it was worth it and it really did me some good."

Broad missed last year's England tour of India with a shoulder problem and, while sidelined, he was unable to exercise much so he cut his calorie intake to 2000 a day and only drank tea and water for five weeks.

His contribution with both bat and ball in the win over ICC Global Cricket Academy certainly suggest he is in good shape to make a big impact in the three Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Broad told BBC Sport: "When the guys were in India I needed to set myself a challenge. I had just got injured and was not able to do a huge amount in the gym so I decided to go on a strict regime.

"You work hard in your time away to make sure that when you come back you take wickets and score runs. That's what we are paid to do and that's why you work hard away from the game.

"It's about staying fit. We have a tough tour in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and then we go to Sri Lanka in peak heat so it was important to get physically right."