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Stuart Broad has made the shock announcement that he will retire from cricket after the current Test match with Australia at The Oval is over, bringing down the curtain on one of the most distinguished careers in the English game.
“Tomorrow or Monday will be my last game of cricket,” the 37-year-old Broad announced on Sky Sports after the fourth day’s play of the final Ashes Test on Saturday in which he’s been playing another significant role.
“It’s been a wonderful ride, a huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and the England badge as much as I have.
“I’m loving cricket as much as I ever have and it’s been such a wonderful series to be a part of.
“I’ve always wanted to finish at the top and this series just feels like it’s been the most enjoyable and entertaining I’ve been involved with.”
Broad, who is England’s second highest Test wicket-taker with 602 victims in 167 matches behind only his long-time teammate James Anderson who has 690, said he finalised the decision to end his 16-year Test career only at 8.30pm on Friday night after some deliberation.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of weeks but England-Australia has always been the pinnacle for me. I’ve loved the battles with Australia,” said Broad, who has 151 Test wickets against them, topped by the extraordinary 8-15 on his home Trent Bridge ground in 2015 that kickstarted a famous England victory.
“I’ve got a love affair with Ashes cricket and I wanted my last bat and bowl to be in Ashes cricket.”
Now the figure who’s always enjoyed courting controversy and making headlines in Ashes combat, will get a glorious farewell opportunity as he has the chance to bowl England to a famous victory on Sunday, with Australia set to have to chase a record target.
England lead by 377 runs with one wicket left standing, with both Broad himself and Anderson at the crease.
“I told Stokesy (England captain Ben Stokes) last night and told the changing room this morning,” explained Broad, who’s the fifth highest Test wicket-taker in the game’s history after making his debut in 2007 against Sri Lanka.
In all, he’s taken 845 wickets in all forms of international cricket.
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“It just felt like the right time. I didn’t want friends and Notts teammates and staff to see things that might come out, so I preferred to just say it and give it a good crack for the last Australia innings.
“I was a little bit emotional (about announcing the news) – I thought a lot about it.
“Even until last night, I was a little bit unsure but once I went to Stokesy’s room and told him, I felt really happy ever since.
“I’ve been content with everything I’ve achieved in the game. Ultimately, the decision came down to I knew I wanted to leave the game loving cricket.
“I look around and it feels like my changing room and I wanted to walk away playing with a group of players I love to bits.”
Glenn McGrath hailed Broad as a “true champion” while Mike Atherton described him as an “undeniably great cricketer”.
The 37-year-old made the announcement at the end of the third day at The Oval on Saturday with everything still to play for in one of the all-time great series.
“He loves the big moments, he loves the pressure and that is the sign of a true champion,” Australian great McGrath told BBC’s Test Match Special after hearing the news.
“It is a big decision but you come to a time when you know. Going out on your own terms is special as well. He has been incredible for England for a long, long time.”
Former England captains Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Sir Alastair Cook also paid tribute to Broad, who’s taken 602 wickets in a remarkable 16-year career.
Atherton told Sky Sports: “Great is an overused word sometimes in the commentary box but Stuart is an undeniably great cricketer for England.
“167 games, 602 wickets, and that performance of eight for 15 against Australia on a home ground the absolutely defining performance of his career.
“I think he’s chosen his moment wisely – what better place to go out than against Australia in the Ashes – and he can look back with a great deal of pride at a fantastic career.”
Hussain focussed on how Broad raised his game for the biggest opponents.
“Very rarely does a bowler or a cricketer tick nearly every box. As a captain you do want that, especially in an Ashes battle when you say to people, ‘do you really want to be out in the cauldron?'”
“Some people like it and then they shy away from it. They want a taste of it but then they don’t want anymore because they don’t want that pressure.
“Stuart’s great attribute is that he wants to be in that cauldron, he wants to be in that pressure. He’s the complete article – the fitness, the hunger, the competitiveness, the skill.
“And the one thing I know about Stuart Broad is that he won’t let that emotion get in the way of this game.”
Cook told Test Match Special. “I’m a bit emotional and a bit surprised. But if you look at the schedule for Stuart Broad, you have India away, Sri Lanka and West Indies next summer, no offence to those sides but Broad is about big moments.
“So for him to get through to another big moment is probably another two-and-a-half years.
“The one player to deliver, alongside Ben Stokes, in the big moments is Stuart Broad and what a feeling that must be for a player.”
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould declared Broad “a true leviathan of the game” as he thanked him for his “outstanding service” to the game.
© AAP
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