Stuart Broad privileged to go past Glenn McGrath's wicket-tally in Tests
Broad went past McGrath's wicket tally in Tests [PC: Twitter]
England's spearhead Stuart Broad has revealed that Glenn McGrath was his childhood hero, and felt privileged to surpass the former Aussie pacer's Test wicket tally.
Broad, who returned to the England Test side under the new leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has been in sublime wicket-taking form.
In the first red-ball series of Summer 2022 against New Zealand, the 36-year-old returned with 12 wickets in three matches to secure a clean sweep for England. Then, he was mildly effective to take three wickets in a one-off Test fixture against India.
Broad emerged as the top wicket-taker in the South Africa series with 14 scalps in three appearances and helping the Three Lions to win the series 2-1.
In this pursuit, Broad leapfrogged McGrath (563) to sit at the fifth position with 566 wickets in 159 Test matches.
The Nottingham-based pacer also felt delighted to be in the esteemed company of James Anderson, who has 667 scalps.
“It was also an honour to go beyond Glenn McGrath’s career Test wicket tally on our final bowling day of the summer (in the third Test at The Oval against South Africa). McGrath was a hero of mine, someone I imitated in the garden, and the reason I wanted to become a bowler," said Broad in his column for the Daily Mail.
“It’s incredible to be up there in his sort of company and to be in a one-two with my great mate Jimmy Anderson as the most prolific seamers in Test cricket."
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