Former England pacer Stuart Broad reflected on what turned out to be his final professional over. The 37-year-old explained how Ben Stokes planned to remove him from the bowling and replace him with Mark Wood’s added pace to finish the game for the team in the final test of the highly-fought Ashes series.
With Australia needing 50 more runs to win the final Ashes 2023 Test, England skipper Ben Stokes brought Stuart Broad into the attack as Alex Carey nicked one behind the stumps to Jonny Bairstow. Broad’s final victim in International Cricket turned out to be the Australian wicket-keeper batter.
Speaking on Skysports, Stuart Broad opened about his final game for England, where Todd Murphy nearly survived earlier in the innings, and recalls telling himself to rev up his energy to give his final push on the last game.
“Stokesy said it was my last over and he was going to bring Mark Wood’s extra pace on to try and get the game done. I knew it would be my last over in professional cricket. I think I got two play and misses from the first five balls.
“I hadn’t thought about changing the bails but I felt a bit unlucky, saw the stumps and thought, ‘I’m going to change them again'”.
“I did it, heard a bit of a cheer and started my walk back to my run-up. I had the realization that this was my last-ever ball. I have to admit that my emotions got the better of me, my legs went like jelly. I started shaking them, thinking, ‘gosh, I have to get some feeling back'”. Stuart Broad said
The lanky fast bowler from Nottinghamshire has taken almost 600 wickets in Test cricket, trailing only James Anderson in terms of England wicket-takers. He has also played 121 One-Day Internationals, with 178 wickets, and 56 Twenty20 Internationals, taking 65 wickets. Stuart Broad was a member of England’s T20 World Cup-winning side in 2010.
Winning The Test Was The Biggest Thing For Me – Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad went on to say that losing to Australia in his farewell match would have been devastating, but it turned out to be an ideal finish for him in International Cricket, and was pleased to see his family members in the box, as he played his final match in whites.
“I loved every moment of walking off the field at The Oval, beating Australia in an Ashes Test. Winning the Test was the biggest thing for me – the emotion of the crowd and winning the game.
“It would have been devastating for me to walk off for the final time having lost a Test to the Aussies. Walking off with the boxes behind us, seeing my mum, my dad, [partner] Mollie, [daughter] Annabella, and friends, it just felt perfect,” Stuart Broad added.
Stuart Broad is the second-highest wicket-taker for England with a total of 604 wickets, behind only his teammate James Anderson, who is still an active player and has 690 wickets to his name. The 37-year-old was also the leading wicket-taker for England in Ashes history, having taken 153 wickets in 40 matches.
