England’s second-highest Test wicket-taker Stuart Broad was recently named the Man of the Series against the West Indies in the recently concluded Test series. He picked 16 wickets in total, including 10 in the third and deciding Test in Manchester.

Unfortunately, Broad was not picked for the first Test of the series at Southampton as stand-in captain Ben Stokes went for the pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer along with James Anderson. This was quite a shock for the bowler, who now has more than 500 Test scalps to his name.

It also brought an end to Broad’s run of 51 consecutive home tests.  Stuart Broad said he considered retiring after being omitted from the Manchester Test.

“Were there thoughts of retirement going round my head? One hundred percent. Because I was so down. I can’t think of many times I have been down like that. When I have been dropped before, I can go ‘Fair enough, good decision, can’t really argue with that’,” Broad told the Mail.

Stuart Broad has "good chance" to join the elite 700 plus Test wickets club, says Shane Warne

“This time, when Stokesy told me I wasn’t playing, I felt my body go into shakes. I could barely speak,” he said, referring to acting captain Ben Stokes. “Playing the series in a bio-secure bubble, to prevent the COVID-19 spread, made dealing with the disappointment a lot more difficult,” he said.

“When you are in the bio-secure bubble and you are in a room in a hotel that is on the cricket ground, you wake up and the cricket ground is there and you are surrounded by cricketers the whole time and everything is crickety, then cricket is life,” 34-year-old added.

Broad is now second to James Anderson who has 589 wickets to his name in Tests and feels he can definitely get to the 600-wicket milestone.

“Could I get 600? Absolutely I think I could. Jimmy was 35 and one month when he got 500. I was 34 and one month. Jimmy is now within touching distance of 600. So stats wise, absolutely,” Broad signed off.

(Reuters inputs)