Menu

Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad3
Stuart Broad3 Image: Wikimedia Commons. PaddyBriggs / Public domain

Overview

Stuart Christopher John Broad (born 24 June 1986) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team and captained the side in One Day International and Twenty20 International formats. A right-arm seam bowler and left-handed batsman, Broad was part of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, and is widely regarded as one of England's greatest Test bowlers, owing in large part to his longevity and his prolific new-ball partnership with James Anderson.

Key Facts

Full name Stuart Christopher John Broad
Date of birth 24 June 1986
Nationality English
Role Right-arm seam bowler, left-handed batsman
Domestic teams Leicestershire; Nottinghamshire (from 2008)
International team England
Captaincy England ODI and T20I sides
Major title 2010 ICC World Twenty20 (winner)
Test retirement Announced 29 July 2023
Current role Cricket commentator

Background

Broad was born in Nottinghamshire, the county for which his father had played, and he eventually represented the same county team. He began his professional career at Leicestershire before transferring to Nottinghamshire in 2008. In August 2006, he was voted the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year, an early indication of his rapid progress in the English domestic game.

International career

Early years and 2009 Ashes

Broad established himself as a key member of the England Test side during the 2009 Ashes series against Australia. He was named Man of the Match in the fifth Test at The Oval after returning figures of 5/37 in the afternoon session of the second day, a spell that proved decisive in England's series victory.

2010 ICC World Twenty20 and batting feats

Broad was a member of the England squad that lifted the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, the country's first global limited-overs title. In August 2010, batting against Pakistan, he scored 169, which stands as the second-highest Test score ever made by a number 9 batsman.

Hat-trick and notable spells

On 30 July 2011, in the Test match against India at Nottingham, Broad took a Test hat-trick, finishing with then-career-best figures of 6/46. Returning from injury at the start of the summer in 2012, he claimed 7/72 in an innings and 11 wickets in a match against the West Indies.

2015 Ashes spell

In the fourth Test of the 2015 Ashes series, Broad recorded career-best figures of 8/15 as Australia were dismissed for just 60 in their first innings. The spell was later named Wisden's Men's Test spell of the decade.

Milestones and retirement

In December 2021, during the second match of the 2021–22 Ashes series, Broad played his 150th Test. During the 2023 Ashes series against Australia, he reached 600 Test wickets, becoming only the second fast bowler — and the second bowler for England, after James Anderson — to do so. Anderson was bowling alongside him on the day of the milestone. Broad is England's second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and the country's second most-capped Test cricketer, behind Anderson in both lists.

On 29 July 2023, Broad announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In his farewell appearance at The Oval, on the final day of the Ashes, he hit a six from the last ball he faced and then dismissed a batter with the final ball he bowled, sealing England's victory in the Test.

Significance

Broad's career is defined by sustained excellence across more than a decade and a half, an unusually long period for a fast bowler. His partnership with James Anderson is considered among the most successful new-ball pairings in Test history, and his match-defining spells — particularly at Trent Bridge in 2015 and the hat-trick against India in 2011 — are regarded as landmarks of modern English cricket. Following retirement, he transitioned into cricket commentary.

References