Broad senses opportunity with Smith at 3

It can be hard to tell what is real and what is propaganda in the silly season before the Investec Ashes begins, but somewhere between the hype and hubris, it seems England really do sense an opportunity.

Freed from expectation - a whitewash defeat in the last encounter takes care of that - England have been buoyed by the public reaction to their encouraging performances against New Zealand and feel that Australia might, just might, have made a tactical error that renders that somewhat more vulnerable that they might have been.

Specifically, some in the England camp feel the decision to promote Steven Smith to No. 3 in the batting order may weaken a significant strength in the Australian line-up.

Certainly that was the suggestion of Stuart Broad as he looked ahead to the series. Echoing the views of his former England (and Nottinghamshire) colleague, Graeme Swann, who recently expressed doubt over Smith's technique, Broad suggested that he may find batting up the order in England an altogether more testing experience.

The figures do not really support that view. Smith scored 253 runs (and was dismissed only once) in his last Test batting at No. 3, against West Indies in Jamaica, and made 111 in his first innings of the tour batting in the same position. But perhaps, Broad thinks, a Dukes ball and English conditions could prove advantageous to England.

"He's obviously had a fantastic 18 months since he's changed his technique a bit," Broad said. "But I think it's an advantage for us with him coming in at No. 3 with the Dukes ball in England.

"I'm certainly not doubting the quality of him as a player. He's a wonderful player and I enjoy watching him play when I'm not bowling at him. I think if he comes in at five like Joe Root does for us there are not many weaknesses there.

"But you have to have a very tight technique to bat in the top three against the Dukes ball in England and it's up to us as an opening attack to get an early wicket and get him in early against the new ball, because he's not had amazing success in England. I've got a few ideas. We'll be looking to try and test his technique with a Dukes ball early."

Broad hopes the Ashes will be played on surfaces he describes as "slow seamers, not quick wickets" in the hopes that England have the experience to cope better with such conditions. And he believes England have an attack - with Ben Stokes' all-round skills allowing England to play four seamers - that is reminiscent of the unit of 2005.

"All our bowlers have the skill to seam the ball around off stump and I think our batsmen have the skill and the foot movement to play seam bowling," he said. "Our batsmen our very sound with the seaming ball and I'd like to test the Australians' technique with a ball moving slightly.

"It's probably the closest to the 2005 attack that England have had in 10 years. Stokesy brings that advantage of being able to bat in the top six and be a fourth seamer. It makes him an integral part of the team.

"The spinner is going to play a huge role, too. We all talk about the big seamers but in England later in the summer the wickets can dry up and turn. Look at Swanny in 2013 when he was leading wicket taker and Ashley Giles, the role he played in 2005. He did a really good role."

Broad also expressed disappointment at recent comments made by Craig Kieswetter about his period in the England side. Kieswetter said the England side was divided by cliques and suggested that success had changed the players.

"James Taylor was talking about that a bit in the Notts changing room," he said. "He was a bit surprised as it's not something he's noticed.

"When people come out and say negative things it's a shame, because playing for England is the absolute pinnacle of your career. It's your dream and 99.9 percent of people leave their England cap behind with the best memories of their life, apart from having kids and stuff like that.

"Craig only played white ball cricket so he hadn't spent a huge amount of time around the England set-up. I'm sure Craig has got some fantastic memories. I can only speak from my experiences, I've loved every minute of it and know when I retire I can have a nice glass of wine and look back on some hugely fond memories."