Ashes 2021-22: I Thought Pat Cummins Being Ruled Out Had The Potential To Be Glenn McGrath 2005 Moment – Stuart Broad
Updated - 19 Dec 2021, 11:38 AM
Veteran England pacer Stuart Broad has said that he thought Pat Cummins getting ruled out of the pink-ball Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval had the potential to be the Glenn McGrath 2005 moment of the ongoing Ashes series.
Newly-appointed Australia Test Captain Cummins was ruled out of the Adelaide Test because he was found in close contact with a Covid-19 positive person and Steve Smith led the Aussies in the match.
Even without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood Australia are performing brilliantly in the match and team England is struggling in both batting and bowling departments.
Batting first Australia posted 473 runs on the board and they managed to bowl out England for 236. Australia despite having a good lead opted to bat in the second innings and at Stumps on Day 3, they were at 45/1 and were leading by 282 runs.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Broad stated that Cummins being ruled out had the potential to be Glenn McGrath 2005 moment but for that England had to bat first. He asserted:
“I thought Pat Cummins being ruled out of the second Test through pandemic protocols had the potential to be the Glenn McGrath 2005 moment of this Ashes. One-nil down, the opposition’s best bowler misses the game in freak circumstances. But for similarities to McGrath standing on the ball at Edgbaston 16 years ago to be retained, we had to bat first.”
Talking about the toss Stuart Broad wrote that the toss at the Gabba was a good toss to lose. However, this was not the case in Adelaide. He stated:
“If the Gabba was a 50-50 call and arguably a good toss to lose, there is no getting away from the fact that this one in Adelaide was huge to win. This was a 100-per-cent bat-first pitch. Do that and do it well in day-night Test cricket, you can control the times at which you get the new ball under lights with fresh bowlers.”
We Just Need Two Or Three Batters To Be Heroic – Stuart Broad
Veteran pacer Broad mentioned that they were unable to capitalise on one big partnership. He stated:
“We weren’t able to convert though. Just like Brisbane, we had one big partnership and couldn’t capitalise on it, and that was disappointing. As professional players, mistakes are OK if you learn from them, but we have collapsed three times in a row now.”
“In Australia, it can be hard to start but when you get past the first 30 balls, you must make things count and we’ve not managed to do that yet. Not for the want of trying. Without looking to make excuses, we have guys who have spent 45 minutes in the middle on the whole tour. When I went out to bat, it was for the first time in a competitive match since August,” he added.
Stuart Broad also feels that England can still draw the pink-ball Test match and they just need batters to be heroic. He asserted:
“ Now, we need to hold the game as long as possible — although the ball is turning, it’s not misbehaving for the seamers in the slightest, so can we bat four sessions? Absolutely. Can we save it? Yes. We just need two or three batters to be heroic.
Broad further added that losing the second match would be a big disadvantage for the England team and it will be difficult for them to make a comeback. He said:
“It would be a long way back from 2-0 down when we need to win the series to reclaim the urn and we haven’t fired with bat or ball yet. We’ve collapsed three times and Australia have scored 400 twice. We need to change things pretty quickly.”
Stuart Broad also stated that his jaw is still sore after the “well-aimed bouncer” from Aussie pacer Jhye Richardson. He elaborated:
“MY jaw is sore after a well-aimed bouncer from Jhye Richardson. The delivery in question took my left thumbnail off and then hit the bottom of the grille of my helmet. Credit to the protective gear because although it’s in the bin now — as you can’t reuse helmets after being struck — it did its job brilliantly.“
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Glenn McGrath Pat Cummins Stuart Broad The Ashes 2021-22
