Stuart Broad is determined to use the experience of toiling on flat pitches in the Caribbean this winter to his advantage when the West Indies visit Lord's next week.

With Steve Harmison left out of the squad for the first of two Tests against Chris Gayle's team, Broad and James Anderson are now England's senior pacemen and the former believes the tough experience in the Caribbean has improved him.

England lost the series 1-0 after being bowled out for 51 in the First Test and, although they almost forced wins in Antigua and Trinidad, the flat pitches proved too much for Andrew Strauss's team. But Broad believes he is now a better bowler after spending the late winter and early spring trying to extract life from the dead Caribbean wickets.

He said: "I cannot wait to get going again. Being beaten by West Indies was very disappointing and mainly down to a very poor two-hour session in Jamaica when we were bowled out for 51."

Yet Broad, whose series record of 12 wickets at 30 runs apiece looks pretty impressive when one considers that all but two of those victims were from the top order, is determined to ensure he remembers the bowling lessons learned in the Caribbean sun.

He said: "I think they'll prove to be among the flattest pitches I play on in my entire career. I learned a lot.

"Recently at Trent Bridge, against Worcestershire, it was another slow, low pitch but I found I was trying to use different angles by bowling wide on the crease or looking to vary things by putting in a few slower balls. I definitely think the Caribbean experience has helped me."

Barring injury, Broad is also likely to be a key figure in England's bid to regain the Ashes later this summer but he said: "The Ashes series is still too far away to think too deeply about. All our focus at the moment has to be on the two Tests against West Indies. And then we've got the Twenty20 World Cup.

"I do believe we will have a great chance to beat Australia when the time comes. But it is so important we get the summer off to a good start - and that all begins at Lord's next week. We want to get on a bit of a roll."

Broad's determination to be a key figure for England this summer was underlined when he rejected the chance to put his name forward for February's Indian Premier League auction. The young fast bowler and budding middle-order batsman might well have commanded a fee of about £500,000 but he opted for rest-time ahead of cash.

"I've no regrets," said the 22-year-old, whose decision to stay at home looks better than ever this week in the wake of Andrew Flintoff's latest injury. "My dream is to play in the Ashes this summer and at the time of making my decision about the IPL I certainly wasn't a regular in the Test side.

"I just felt I wanted to be refreshed for the English summer to make sure I gave myself the best chance of getting selected for the West Indies series and then the one against Australia."

With Flintoff injured and Kevin Pietersen struggling for runs, Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah have spent most of their time in South Africa carrying drinks for their IPL colleagues.

In fact, only Ravi Bopara of England's main men enhanced his reputation during the early stages of the IPL's second season and this was reflected in yesterday's squad announcement, with Bopara included and Shah left out.

As for Broad, the surroundings at Trent Bridge last week may have been less glamorous than those in Cape Town and Johannesburg but he bowled nearly 50 overs in two innings, took seven wickets and made 60 runs in fine style.

"I was pleased to contribute to a good Notts win and the work I did in the game was ideal preparation for the Lord's Test," said Broad. "It's a good way to start what should be a huge summer."

* Stuart Broad was speaking ahead of the Standard Chartered Great City Race, a 5km team race through the streets of London's square mile on 9 July. For more information visit www.cityrace.co.uk