Stuart Broad: The Cricketer's writers pick their favourite moments

Stuart Broad is up for the Sports Personality of the Year Award this December. The Cricketer team, including SIMON HUGHES and HUW TURBERVILL, reflect on a memorable career

This article was originally published in July 2020

SIMON HUGHES - Classic Broad cunning

August 12, 2013: 4th Ashes Test, Chester-le-Street 

England are 2-0 up in the series, but Australia have a chance of getting back to 2-1. Chasing 299 they are 174 for 3 at drinks on the fourth afternoon with David Warner just out but Michael Clarke looking solid, Steve Smith getting settled  and some decent batting to come. The pitch is playing well.

Straight after drinks Broad has the ball from the Lumley Castle End. He makes a big play of posting a leg gully to Clarke, indicating he maybe going to target the ribs and trying and get him out fending one off. Then he comes roaring in and produces a perfectly pitched leg cutter, angling in at off stump and then jagging away past Clarke’s tentative push and clattering into the top of off-stump.

Broad sets off a valedictory run pursued by delighted teammates as the Australian captain plods disconsolately back to the pavilion.

It was a classic piece of Broad cunning and artistry culminating in Australia losing their last seven wickets for 50, six of them to Broad, and England regaining the Ashes.   

HUW TURBERVILL - Streak king

Stuart Broad had had more streaks to choose from than Pokemon.

I’m a bit Ashes-centric I know, but his performances against Australia spring to mind, however.

There are especially vivid memories of the 2013 Test in Durham.

In the first innings he decapitated Australia’s top order – Davie Warner (bowled… surprise!) for 3; Usman Khawaja for a duck; Michael Clarke for 6… then 6 for 50 in the second innings, for match figures of 11 for 121.

This seemed to be about the time we, and English crowds, cottoned on to the fact that once he was on a roll there was no stopping him.

That he is still doing it now, in this series nine years later, is seriously impressive.

You also have to admire the character he showed in Australia in 2013/14. It is the toughest tour anyhow, but when you have a whole nation calling you a cheat, ‘ghosting’ him even with an inane newspaper campaign, to stand up to that shows some resilience. Australians were made to eat their words at Trent Bridge in 2015 of course – and no one will ever forget his face when Ben Stokes caught Adam Voges.

When Sir Ian Botham broke Dennis Lillee’s Test wickets record with Nos.355 and 356 against New Zealand at The Oval in August 1986 (he finished on 383) it seemed such an awesome number; who would have thought both James Anderson and Broad would have surpassed it, and actually eclipsed it by some considerable distance? While England staging seven home Tests a summer from 2000 has helped, it is still a magnificent feat of stamina, determination and longevity.

It is assumed Broad will be successful on television, after playing.

He certainly makes for a charming interviewee. The only time I found him a little tetchy was when being quizzed about his white-ball record: betraying a slight annoyance that he had made way for the younger generation prematurely perhaps.

Limited-over cricket’s loss is the Test game’s gain, though.

^{Stuart Broad has hit the 500 Test wicket milestone}

JAMES COYNE - The defining presence of the Ashes for a decade

Arguably no bowler of his era has been more lethal with a smidgen of movement as Stuart Broad. At times, when there’s been no movement from ball or pitch, he’s looked toothless in this fast-scoring era. But at plenty of others he’s been unplayable.

Anyone who has sat through a Broad press conference knows that few bowlers combine precision of their art with a silver tongue as he does – a dual skill setting him up for an inevitably flourishing career in the Sky commentary box. And the way he has updated his bowling to stay ahead of the Test game has been deeply impressive.

And yet, for those spells in helpful conditions at, say, Durham in 2013 or Trent Bridge in 2015, or even that superb 6-17 at Johannesburg that winter, my mind goes back to a time when Australian batting against the swinging Dukes ball was a little more watertight than it has been of late.

Broad was Andrew Strauss’ fifth-choice bowler in the decisive first innings of the Oval Test of 2009. Back at a time when he was a genuine quick he ran in and hooped the ball in and out to spectacularly defeat the defences of Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin. Australia won every statistical battle going in that 2009 Ashes, but the first of Broad’s sensational spells in Test cricket gave England the series 2-1.

Peter Siddle has been excellent, and Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris devastating in 2013/14. But with more wickets (118 to 99) and a better average (29 to 32) in his Ashes career than even his great partner Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad is the bowler who has consistently defined the Ashes in the post-Warne era.

NICK FRIEND - A tale of two talents

For me, two stand out. One is obvious: the Ashes-winning spell at Trent Bridge – an outrageous display on home turf, a morning that was prime Broad.

James Anderson was absent and the talk in the build-up to the Test was of how England might come in his absence. In the previous win at Edgbaston, Broad had only taken match figures of 3 for 105. There was hardly evidence then of what would ensue on that famous first morning in Nottingham. But in hindsight, we should almost have expected what followed: 8 for 15 in the blink of an eye.

As it all took place, there was a startling inevitability to it all. His aura was enough for some: Michael Clarke flashed horribly at a ball he would never otherwise play at, Ben Stokes clung onto a stunning catch to dismiss Adam Voges, Chris Rogers succumbed to Broad’s then-new ploy of targeting left-handers from round the wicket. He was Midas: everything he touched turned to gold.

All this with his Australian history: the great non-walk and the subsequent childish taunts from the Brisbane Courier Mail. He has always loved proving the doubters wrong. On the biggest stage of all, there he was doing it once more.

If I may add a secondary memory, let me raise a toast to the extraordinary evolution of his batting, and its anomalous peak in 2010. In a Test forever tainted by the spot-fixing scandal, Broad’s 169 at the time marked the arrival of the next great allrounder. Andrew Flintoff had retired the previous year, and Broad had stepped into his boots.

Ultimately, it was a false dawn of sorts – we have never seen those heights again, but do yourself a favour and take five minutes out of your day to re-watch one of the most startlingly captivating Test knocks you will ever see.

^{Broad is one of England's greatest bowlers}

NICK HOWSON - Trent Bridge mayhem makes up for missed wedding

I missed a friend's wedding to cover the fourth Ashes Test of the 2015 series. And about 90 minutes into day one at Trent Bridge, I knew I was watching something extremely special.

Underneath low cloud, Stuart Broad produced a vintage display to end Australia's grip on the urn. His morning spell was virtual a scrapbook from his entire career and it was an honour to watch it unfold.

The left-handed Chris Rodgers - Broad's 300th Test victim - and Shaun Marsh were done from around the wicket; Steve Smith couldn't control a delivery which reared up and Adam Voges saw an edge which Ben Stokes time-travelled to catch at fifth slip.

Of all Broad's great moments, surely his reaction to the grab is the zenith. The celebrappeal(!), the look of astonishment, the hands to the mouth, and the eyes bulging as he joins his teammates. It is a wonderful sequence which sums up why we do sport. It can create moments where your actions are consumed by the ecstasy of the occasion.

Such was the dramatic clatter of wickets, I recall very nearly missing the iconic moment while attempting to keep track of the chaos. There were even times when I was tweeting the fall of a wicket before Sky Sports had shown it, leading to a few choice words from afar. It was sheer mayhem.

After virtually ending Michael Clarke's international career, Broad cruelly peppered the lower order to finish with 8-15 - a performance for the ages when England needed it. Not a bad habit to have.

THOMAS BLOW - Walk Broad's way

It has to be when he refused to walk against Australia. The sheer audacity of edging the ball and just standing there as if nothing had happened. It was so obvious, but you did not feel any sympathy for the Aussies as Michael Clarke had already used his two reviews.

It was similar to when Nathan Lyon hit Ben Stokes’ pads during the Headingley Test, only for the umpire to give him not out. If Tim Paine had not have used up his reviews for the sake of it, they could have stopped history.

I would be lying if I said I did not find it hilarious as Broad nonchalantly strolled down to Ian Bell at the non-striker’s end for a casual chat, completely oblivious to the scandal that was unfolding around him. But he had every right to stand his ground.

Part of Broad’s genius is his imperturbable bravery, that he is willing to do things most are not. If he did not have this, he would not have reached 500 Test wickets. The celebrappeal is wonderful, but his refusal to walk, knowing he would receive a barrage of abuse from Australians for years to come, tops the list.

JIM HINDSON - T20 Blast from the past

It was Stuart Broad’s firecracker battle with Essex skipper Ronnie Irani and that stood out for me, in the 2006 T20 Blast semi-final.

Broad, aged 20 and with Leicestershire at the time, bowled with hostile pace, accuracy and clinical aggression. It was the way he stood up to Irani, who had a reputation on the circuit as a real tough guy, a master of Taekwondo no less, that demonstrated his remarkable temperament and knack of performing on the big stage.

Words were exchanged before the young buck nicked out the gnarled Essex skipper in his second over. Broad’s three overs in the powerplay conceded just ten runs – a miraculous effort given the fielding restrictions that weight the advantage significantly in the batsman’s favour. Irani was dismissed for nought from seven deliveries – all bowled by Broad. A chastening experience for Irani who enjoyed a very healthy career strikerate of 137 in T20 cricket.

Broad was simply superb in front of a full house at Trent Bridge and millions watching live on TV around the world. A talent who could turn matches on their head, had been born. 

^{Broad in T20 action for Nottinghamshire in 2006}

GEOFF BARTON - The day Broad got me in trouble with my boss

Of the many Stuart Broad ‘hot streaks’, the one that stands out most for me was the first. The 2009 Ashes – while suffering in comparison to the 2005 rubber – was still a great series, and was locked at one-one going into the final Test at The Oval.

It was years before I’d work for The Cricketer, but I’d found another cricket fan – Bob – amongst my then-colleagues, and we’d chatted a lot in the build-up. Would they recall Ramprakash in place of the struggling Bopara? Harmison instead of Onions? In the end it was Jonathan Trott who benefitted from poor old Ravi’s run of dismissals to Ben Hilfenhaus, and while Harmison was recalled for the match (it proved to be his swansong), it was another bowler who stole the show. 

Bob and I listened to TMS as much as we could at work, and that was how I experienced the match. As England won the toss and went out to bat, I was at my desk, headphones on, not getting much work done. 

England made 332. Still in the balance, then. Australia started their reply solidly enough, Shane Watson and Simon Katich making 73 before the first wicket fell. The plan to Watson all series had been to get him lbw, and Broad did just that in his first over (astonishingly, he was the fifth bowler used).

From that moment on though, the game turned England’s way – and quickly. Broad’s five wickets came in four overs. Ponting played on; Hussey lbw to a perfect inswinger. Clarke and Haddin soon followed. Swann was chipping in at the other end, and the wickets just kept falling; for a while it seemed like Broad would get one with every ball. 

But what of Bob? He’d been called into a meeting that afternoon and was missing the whole thing. I remember thinking when Haddin was seventh out that I had to get the news to him, and so repeatedly walked past the meeting room window holding up seven fingers, hoping he’d get the message. He did, but so did our managing director, who didn’t appreciate the interruption to his presentation!

Remembering that match 11 years on, what amazes me most is how those spells of Broad’s became his trademark. Five wickets in four overs to (effectively) win the Ashes? That’s once-in-a-lifetime stuff, isn’t it? Well, not for Broad: he’d do the same thing in the next two home Ashes.

His 5 for 37 that day wasn’t a one-off, but the start of a remarkable sequence of match (and series) defining spells. And I (if not Bob) now get to enjoy them at a company that’s happy for me to watch the cricket during the day!

ED KRARUP - Winning the Ashes in half an hour

My ultimate Stuart Broad moment is his spell in Australia’s first innings of the fifth Test of the 2009 Ashes.

It was the sort of spell that you show people who say Test cricket is slow and boring. He changed the game in just a few overs and won the Ashes for England.

Watson, Ponting, Hussey, Clarke. Four top-order players, all of whom could have played that nuggety little innings that draws the game. Hussey’s lbw is to date one of the finest celebrappeals I’ve ever seen.

As he’s done so many times since, Broad won the game in half an hour.

Stuart Broad: The Cricketer's writers pick their favourite moments

On Stuart Broad: A force of nature

Seven reasons why we should all love Stuart Broad

Quiz! Can you name all the victims in Broad's first 500 Test wickets

 

Simon Hughes: Broad has made a habit of proving us all wrong