“If you ask me what I want to see as I open my curtains in the morning – it’s a little bit of cloud and no rain,” smiled the veteran quick after a manic Monday when he perhaps made it ‘advantage England’ with a typically inspired late spell in which he bagged Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.

“We feel pretty confident we can go and get seven wickets and if we turn up tomorrow and there’s a bit of cloud, I will definitely have a smile on my face,” smiled the 36-year-old, while accepting the match is still very much in the balance with Australia on 3-107, still needing another 174.

“There’s still a few results out there on the table. We’re obviously delighted to have (David) Warner, Marnus and (Steve) Smith back in the pavilion because they’re world-class, but we know they’ve got a lot of danger to come so we’ve got to be right on the money tomorrow.”

Rain could well yet intervene but the extra cloud cover that made life incredibly difficult for England’s batters for 20 minutes on Sunday could now come to the home side’s aid on a final day which has attracted a sell-out crowd.

“The atmosphere is going to be superb and I must admit I absolutely every second of that last hour tonight,” said Broad, reflecting on how the noise from the Eric Hollies Stand drove him on.

“It was so good running in, just hearing that roar and the cheers. Everyone keeps going into our changing room and going, ‘wow, how good is it playing here?’

“It’s so special to play Test match cricket in front of crowds like this. Ashes cricket is just magical, isn’t it? Tomorrow is set up to be a cracker.”

There are already unmistakable shades of the excitement that accompanied the England’s 2005 Ashes triumph, still regarded as the greatest Test series of all and headlined by the home side’s incredible two-run win at the same Bimringham ground.

“It’s amazing, we can feel the energy of the country, players have a had a lot more messages. Partly it’s because of the style of cricket England have been playing the last 12 months – and it’s been such an exciting start to the series.

“It does feel like there’s the same energy for 2005 and if we have a series like that again, we’re going to inspire a lot of kids to play the game, aren’t we?

“And tomorrow is one of those days when both teams will come to the ground with a genuine belief they can win the game, which is a great place for Test cricket to be.”