Test-addicted Stuart Broad: New joinee in the 600-wickets club

Stuart Broad becomes 2nd England pacer to complete 600 test-wickets; overall 5th cricketer to reach the milestone.

Stuart Broad completes 600 wickets in Test Cricket for England (Images: ©ICC/Twitter)

After England’s victory in Headingley in the third Test in Ashes 2023, there was a different kind of buzz and excitement going into the fourth Test in Manchester as the hosts were looking to square the series.

But there was a moment to cherish that awaited Stuart Broad, who is still famous on the wrong side of the coin among fans, especially the Indians, for being bashed for six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh at the Kingsmead in Durban during the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup. But since then, the tall fast bowler has just blossomed in his career to reach new heights.

Broad claimed his 600th Test victim

It didn’t take long for Broad to pocket his Test wicket number 599 with a beautiful in-swinging delivery that pinned Usman Khawaja right before the stumps, who expected the ball to go away from him and ended up playing down the wrong line.

Just after the start of the third session, Broad came back for another fiery energetic spell as the atmosphere of the ground suddenly changed anticipating something special. Broad ran in from the James Anderson end with his knees pumping with an extra bit of energy to send down a 132 kmph bumper towards Travis Head’s left shoulder who after nailing the same sort of delivery for a boundary in the previous over, miscued the pull shot towards long leg as Joe Root rushed in and pouched it falling onto his knees as Broad was off to a light-headed celebration.

He didn’t celebrate like bouncing off the walls but stood there calmly for a few seconds before raising his index finger, just in case anyone didn’t realise what just happened. He sprinted to Root before giving his team mates a high-five. His dear mate Anderson was off the field at that moment but straightaway gave him a hug after getting back in.

This wasn’t the landmark wicket Broad must have wished; getting David Warner nicked off or trapping Steve Smith before the stumps would be top on his priority list of wickets but Test cricket hardly follows the plans one make.

“There was a clip that came up in the changing room of my 100th, 200th (wicket) and it was caught long-off, caught mid-on, caught mid-wicket… they’re not the old classical dismissals,” Broad expressed at the close of the first day’s play. “The good thing is it was caught by our leading catcher ever in Joe Root- so I can tell my grandkids it was caught first slip.”

“It felt very special to get an ovation today; it’s got a nice ring to it, getting my 600th wicket from the James Anderson end,” Broad narrated the difference from the time when he picked up his 500th Test wicket at the same ground but behind closed doors in that mid-pandemic series against West Indies.

Test-addicted Broad has a knack of putting life in half-dead games

There are few cricketers who carry energy in the middle when they do their job just how Stuart Broad does. Every time he has the ball in hand standing on the top of his bowling mark, the whole atmosphere suddenly changes and one can sense something special awaits in every single delivery of his spell.

He still has the knack of turning the flow of the game in England’s favour with his devastating spells as one’s mind can easily goes back to the time when he single-handedly destroyed Australia at his home ground Trent Bridge in 2015 when the visitors were bundled out for 60 thanks to his spell of 8/15. He also took 5/5 in just 5.1 overs against India at the same ground in 2011, including his first Test match hat-trick as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar fell in successive balls.

What keeps Broad in a different category is his willingness to get better and try to find ways of gaining new skills. Speaking during the county duties with Nottinghamshire, Broad openly talked about developing an outswinger during his break in the winter season to tackle the backbone of Australia’s batting, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.

“It’s designed, to be honest, for Marnus and Smith; it’s the reason I wanted to change something, to try and bring their outside edge more in play,” Broad who has troubled the left-handers with his general outswinger, spoke about the plan. And he didn’t miss out getting Labuschagne two times in Edgbaston and Smith once in Manchester; on all occasions the batters edged it to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

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Broad becomes 2nd pacer from England to take 600 wickets (Images: ©ICC/Twitter)

The brilliant numbers speak highly of the calibre of Stuart Broad

Broad has dismissed David Warner 17 times, the joint-third most dismissals for a batter against a bowler in the format, while his 167 wickets in 42 Tests at an average of 24.14 is the highest for any bowler since January 2019.

Let’s take a look at how Broad has performed in various conditions:

Played in	Mat	Wkts	Ave	S/R	Eco	5W/10W	Best
Australia	15	47	34.17	69.92	2.94	02/00	6/81
Bangladesh	03	08	39.88	76.50	3.13	00/00	2/31
England	97	394	25.91	50.09	3.10	14/03	8/15
India	08	43	61.70	114.60	3.23	00/00	4/33
New Zealand	11	44	27.93	56.07	2.99	02/00	6/51
South Africa	12	45	23.96	54.98	2.61	01/00	6/17
Sri Lanka	04	06	47.17	108.00	2.62	00/00	3/20
UAE	06	20	22.85	62.60	2.19	00/00	4/36
West Indies	10	26	31.15	71.08	2.63	01/00	5/85
Overall	166	600	27.68	55.76	2.98	20/03	8/15

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Let’s scan numbers of how Broad has executed against different opponents

Versus	Mat	Wkts	Ave	S/R	Eco	5W/10W	Best
Australia	39	149	28.99	54.27	3.21	08/01	8/15
Bangladesh	03	08	39.88	76.50	3.13	00/00	2/31
India	24	74	28.51	59.11	2.89	02/00	6/25
Ireland	02	13	14.77	26.92	3.29	01/00	5/51
New Zealand	23	94	28.21	53.32	2.17	04/00	7/44
Pakistan	19	67	22.54	55.34	2.44	00/00	4/36
South Africa	25	89	27.83	56.76	2.94	02/00	6/17
Sri Lanka	12	33	36.67	75.45	2.92	00/00	4/21
West Indies	19	73	24.90	51.64	2.89	03/02	7/71
Overall	160	600	27.68	55.76	2.98	20/03	8/15

Landmark Test wickets of Stuart Broad

Landmark Wicket Number	Name of the Player
100th	Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka)
200th	Michael Clarke (Australia)
300th	Chris Rogers (Australia)
400th	Tom Latham (New Zealand)
500th	Kraigg Braithwaite (West Indies)
600th	Travis Head (Australia)

When a player plays for so long as Stuart Broad has for 16 odd years, it also becomes very vital to keep up with the pace of the game and the new generation that’s coming with new energy and enthusiasm in the team. It also becomes important to polish the skills and try to gather new expertise in the game.

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Let’s take a look at how Broad has performed in each years since debut

Year	Mat	Wkt	Ave	S/R	5W/10W	Best
2007	01	01	95.00	216.00	00/00	1/95
2008	09	25	43.24	76.08	00/00	3/44
2009	14	47	28.36	53.81	03/00	6/91
2010	10	79	37.69	76.77	00/00	4/38
2011	07	33	22.30	49.15	01/00	6/46
2012	11	40	31.70	62.73	02/01	7/72
2013	14	62	25.81	46.27	05/01	7/44
2014	08	30	26.70	60.73	01/00	6/25
2015	14	56	23.82	48.27	02/00	8/15
2016	14	48	26.56	57.96	01/00	6/17
2017	11	30	36.07	78.43	00/00	4/51
2018	11	35	28.29	56.80	01/00	6/54
2019	11	43	25.12	51.30	01/00	5/86

2020	08	38	14.76	38.34	01/01	6/31
2021	07	12	39.50	89.58	00/00	4/48
2022	09	40	25.75	47.58	01/00	5/101
2023	07	34	26.12	43.29	01/00	5/51
Overall	166	600	27.68	55.76	20/03	8/15

In this process, Broad with 149 wickets in 39 games has also surpassed Sir Ian Botham (128) to become the highest wicket taker for England in the Ashes, only behind Glenn McGrath (157), Dennis Lillee (167) and Shane Warne (195) in the list.

One of the things that goes overlooked for Broad is his batting. After being hit by a nasty bouncer by Varun Aaron, since September 2014, he has just 1709 runs in 100 games at an average of 14.24 with just three fifties while before that period, he had 1938 runs in 66 Tests with 10 fifties and one hundred.

Broad could end up as the last pacer to reach the 600-club

In the current generation where most of the bowlers are looking at franchise cricket, it won’t be surprising not to see another bowler reaching the landmark of 600 Test wickets. At the moment, the next highest wicket-taker among active players is Tim Southee with 370 wickets in 94 games but New Zealand’s two-match Test series will be a huge blockage for him to the goal. Mitchell Starc, with 325 wickets in 81 games, could aim for the target but still it will be a monumental task to complete.

It's never easy to stay fit for 15-16 seasons to keep the body fresh and come back with stiffness every day and not being drowned in the big amounts in franchise leagues, but Stuart Broad and his long-time bowling partner, James Anderson have made sure that this format would remain at the top of their list.

The fifth and final Ashes Test will be held from July 27-31 at the Kennington Oval in London.

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