Ashes 2021-22: I Can Still Get World-Class Players Out Meant A Lot: Stuart Broad
Published - 09 Jan 2022, 08:02 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:03 AM
England pacer Stuart Broad said that one should lift their spirit up during the time they feel left out and wait for the right opportunity.
Broad, who played his 150th Test match in Adelaide, was benched for the first and third Tests in Brisbane and Melbourne respectively.
Was delighted to be mixing it with the best of them: Stuart Broad
Broad returned with two wickets, one wicket in each innings, in the Adelaide Test that England lost by 275 runs.
Broad returned with the figures of 5/101 in Australia’s first innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in the fourth Test. Broad’s wickets included the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith and the centurion Usman Khawaja.
The 35-year-old speedster said that he was pleased to get those wickets after missing a couple of Tests.
“After the disappointment of missing out on previous matches in this Ashes series, proving to myself I can still get world-class players out meant a lot.
“I was delighted to be mixing it with the best of them in David Warner, Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja during that first innings at the SCG and I was pleased I managed to stay switched on to the tour both physically and mentally after being overlooked,” Broad wrote in his column for Daily Mail.
“During times like I endured when left out in Brisbane and Melbourne, you have to lift your spirits and keep training for when an opportunity arises,” he added.
Stuart Broad lauds Jonny Bairstow’s hundred in Sydney
Jonny Bairstow played a crucial knock of 113 for England in the first innings as him and Stokes stitched a 128-run stand to bail out England from another low innings score.
Bairstow hammered eight fours and three sixes in his scintillating knock and Broad complimented that the Yorkshire player scores big runs in New Year’s Test matches.
“New Year’s Tests certainly bring out the best in Jonny Bairstow. There was that brilliant unbeaten 150 in Cape Town six years ago and this week’s innings was right up there among the best I’ve seen him play abroad. It’s a tough week for him, being the anniversary of his father’s death, but there is obviously some energy or focus there that makes him perform,” Broad mentioned.
“It was a very emotional performance and he deserved his hundred. As well as the quality, it was a brave knock. He nearly had his thumb ripped off by Pat Cummins and carried on,” he added.
Broad along with his long-time teammate James Anderson helped England to save the Sydney Test as the duo batted for the last two overs against Australian spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith. The match ended as a draw but Australia have already won the series 3-0 and hence they also retained the Ashes.
