• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Stuart Broad Shares An Interesting Story Regarding Ab De Villiers 2016 Centurion Dismissal

Stuart Broad Shares an 'Interesting Story' Regarding AB de Villiers' 2016 Centurion Dismissal

image-lli1hmroBroad had dismissed AB de Villiers 10 times in Tests [Twitter]

Stuart Broad, the former England fast bowler, had memorable rivalries in Test cricket. While his battles with David Warner are well-remembered, he also dominated against South Africa captain AB de Villiers. Broad dismissed de Villiers 10 times in 14 Test matches, ranking as the joint 10th most frequent batter-bowler pair in Test cricket.

In a recent chat with de Villiers on the YouTube channel "AB de Villiers 360," Broad shared an intriguing cricket anecdote. He revealed how a "sleeve trick" helped prepare wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow for a catch during England's 2016 tour of South Africa. De Villiers, leading the Proteas, fell into Broad's plan, getting dismissed early in the match due to Broad's strategic leg-cutter.


“I can tell you something about that ball. No one knows it – only Jonny Bairstow [knows it]. When I am going to bowl that ball, at the end of my mark, I pick my [right] sleeve up like that. That’s a signal to the wicket-keeper to come a yard forward catch the nick. So I would look around pull my sleeve up and Jonny Bairstow creeps in.”

The England cricket team toured South Africa from 15 December 2015 to 21 February 2016 for four Test matches, five One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 International matches. The visitors won the Test series 2–1, while the hosts won the ODI series 3–2 and the T20I series 2–0. Coincidentally, de Villiers registered three back to back ducks in the Test series.