Cricket's Timeless Icon - Celebrating Broad's International Legacy

image-lks2ml12Stuart Broad announced retirement from Cricket during the last Test of Ashes 2023 (Source: Twitter)

The last day of the final test will not only end the significant Ashes Series but also end the legacy of one of the amazing Stalwarts of English cricket known as Stuart Broad. Broad has announced his retirement from international cricket during the ongoing 5th and final Ashes test and will go down as one of the best fast bowlers England has produced. 

The 6ft 5in gigantic pacer known for his consistent line and length and ability to move the ball both ways has ended his career as the second highest wicket taker for England and the 7th highest wicket taker in international cricket with 843 wickets from 343 international games. He will also finish his career as the highest English wicket taker and third highest wicket taker in the Ashes with 151 wickets from 40 matches under the Ashes greats like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.


Test Cricket's Golden Arm: Celebrating Broad's Brilliance

image-lks05fvpYear-wise Test Wickets Analysis 

Even though Broad has a great record in white ball cricket as well it is his test career that has defined him as a cricketer. He has currently played 167 matches which consists of 309 innings and has taken over 602 wickets and being only the 2nd English bowler to 600 wickets. His test career didn’t start that well where in 2007 he played only one match and could get only 1 wicket. He had to wait for a whole for his second test match which came in 2008. In this year, he showed a lot of promise with 25 wickets from 18 innings. 

It was in the 2009 season, that he established himself as a formidable test bowler with 47 wickets in 22 innings. By the end of 2010, Broad had 99 wickets from 60 innings. The period between 2011-2015 got him to maximum heights with 221 wickets from 101 innings securing his place as one of England's top bowlers with his best performances coming in 2013 and 2015 with 62 and 56 wickets respectively. 

The period between 2016-2020 saw him as one of the dominating bowlers in test cricket where he took 194 wickets from the 102 innings he played in that period with great performances in 2016 with 48 wickets and 2019 with 43 wickets and where in 2020 he became the fourth fast bowler to reach 500 test wickets. In the period between 2021-2023 he is a certified legend for English cricket and ends with a great season in 2023 with 36 wickets from 16 innings. Overall it has been 16 great years of Test cricket for Stuart Broad.

Broad dominating the Cricketing world

Looking at Broad's illustrious career and seeing his Ashes record there is no doubt he has dominated both in England and Australia where he has taken 391 wickets from 186 innings in England and 47 wickets from 22 innings in Australia but his dominance doesn't end there as he also had amazing performances in New Zealand and South Africa with 40+ wickets in both venues in 19 and 22 innings played there. He also had decent performances in UAE and West Indies with 20+ wickets which indicates he was a consistent performer wherever he played.

Overall the journey of Stuart Broad has been remarkable and he has been a major part of England cricket through ups and downs. Broad has left a huge inspiring 16 year legacy that English cricket will cherish for years whether it be his massive comeback after going for 6 in a row into test cricket or giving England vital performances against big test nations.