Calcutta: Stuart Broad has warned that England's rejigged seam attack will have to adapt quickly to what promises to be another slow and unforgiving Lord's surface, as he prepares once again to lead the line in the first Test against Pakistan in the absence of his long-term new-ball partner, James Anderson.

"Our biggest challenge is going to be this wicket," Broad said during a promotional at Lord's. "The Test match against Sri Lanka was a bit of a boring draw so it will be interesting to see what they produce. The biggest test for the bowling unit will be trying to do what no other team has done this year, which is to win a game and take 20 wickets at Lord's. It was a challenge when we had Jimmy in the side four weeks ago, so it will be an even bigger challenge this time.

"The Sri Lanka wicket didn't offer a regulation nick," he added. "They got wickets with lbws and bowled outs so it will be about adjusting as quickly as possible. If we play on a wicket at Lord's similar to the one against Australia that will be right up Pakistan's street. Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah is a similar sort of attack. If we do come across a wicket like that, which is always a lottery at Lord's, we have got to be better at adapting."

To that end, Broad recognises the importance of his role, both as a leader by example, but also as the de facto captain of an inexperienced bowling line-up.

He knows he may need to be available to lend an ear to teammates if the going gets tough during the coming days.

"Our success comes from communication so the key will be get a bond between the bowling unit and sharing a lot of information," he said. "We always talk, not as an ego thing, but to try to get one over the opening batsman. A series can be a long time, so let's try and stamp our authority quickly on them.

"Bowlers spend more time with each other. Batsmen are at the other end in the nets, so you feel like you have to get to know the bowlers to help the captain out. You become a bit of a go-between as a senior bowler. A bowler might be really struggling with the wind, or the foot-holes, but does not want to tell the England captain he is struggling, so you can easily pass a little message on quietly.

"We will be talking what seam is working. Is it a wobble seam? Should we hold it up dead straight? With Jimmy's experience, that happens within three or four overs, so I would expect the bowlers to be talking all the time in the first hour, just trying to figure out what is happening. It will be our job to get as much out of the wicket as possible."