The Ashes: Stuart Broad on David Warner, Trent Bridge and fairytale farewell
The next time Broad won the Ashes, England’s famous victory in 2010-11, he played just two Tests before his series was ended by a side injury. He cried as he was embraced by England team doctor Nick Pierce in the dressing room at Adelaide Oval and spent the third Test in Perth with the Test Match Special squad before heading home to watch the rest of the series from his sofa.
Broad was two of two in the Ashes series but it wasn’t until 2013 that the Pom role Australians love to hate took shape.
In the hard-fought first Test, Broad’s lead off Ashton Agar’s spin deflected off Haddin’s keeper’s gloves and into the hands of Clarke at first slip. Broad did not walk, Australia were ruled out of review and the runs he added helped England win the match.
In Broad’s defence, Haddin’s brass neck looked worse due to his inability to hold on to the edge, but that did not stop Australia coach Darren Lehmann labeling him an “obvious cheat” and hoped he would “cry and go home” in the comeback series less than six months later.
Broad knew he could pull it off if the Brisbane Courier Mail refused to publish his name and ran a headline calling him a ‘smug Pommie cheat’.
“I walked around the border during warm-up matches, either with the psychologist or on my own,” he says. “If you walk around the Gabba there might be 45,000 people, so you’ll just hear noise. If you walk around a warm-up area where there might only be 100 people, you’ll hear every word.
“I wanted to create a shield around myself. I wanted to hear the abuse to make me stronger. I worked with a psychologist because I knew it was coming, to strengthen my resolve.
“When it was announced that I would be bowling my first ball in the first test at the Gabba, the boos were incredible.
“The day before, I had done my pre-match mental routine. I stood at the end of my wicket, bowling four overs in my mind and imagining the boo. I could feel it. It felt like I had been there before. It absolutely took me by surprise. I bowled a no-ball, a short delivery hit for the first four balls. It was quite overwhelming.”
Despite this feeling, Broad recovered to take five wickets and walked into the press conference that evening with the Courier Mail tucked under his arm. It was England’s best day of the series as they were dismantled by Mitchell Johnson and beaten 5-0.
Eighteen months later Broad was doing his own shredding job with a career-defining and Ashes-clinching performance.
In the fourth Test at home at Trent Bridge, Broad was bowling England’s first over for the first time in the absence of the injured James Anderson. Broad used his local knowledge to urge captain Alastair Cook to bat first if he won the toss.
Broad said: “I was marking my induction and Shane Warne came up to me and said ‘It’s the first bowl, isn’t it?’ he said. “I remember thinking Shane Warne was first strike everywhere. If he thought he was ball first…
“I walked over to Cookie. He said, ‘Chief, maybe a bowl first.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry, I already made that call.'”
Broad’s legs were pumping. The Australian sides were engulfed by England slip fielders. Figures of 8-15 remain the best in Ashes history for fast bowlers from either side. Australia disintegrated in 18.3 overs and 94 minutes. 60 is out.
“You can’t accept that,” Broad says. “I got the high-five, it showed up on the big screen, and I had no idea.
“It took some time (months) to see the scorecard and see 8-15 written down. What was so special was that Joe Root got 100 on the same day. If we had been bowled out for 100, it would have been a different conversation.”
