Ace England pacer Stuart Broad has torn into the Edgbaston pitch which is hosting the first Ashes 2023 Test against Australia and called it “pretty characterless and soulless”.

This comes after England declared their first innings on 393/8 on day one with Joe Root making 118* and Australia ended day 2 on 311/5, with Usman Khawaja making 126*.

Broad was the pick of the bowlers for England as he struck twice in two balls to remove David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne.

"How can I be polite [about the pitch]? It is a very slow, low surface that zaps the energy out of the ball. It is pretty characterless so far, pretty soulless, but you can only judge a surface towards the end of the match and see how it develops," Broad told BBC.

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Broad termed the deck as "one of the slowest" he has ever come across and hoped that the trend won't continue for the remaining games.

"It is certainly one of the slowest pitches I can remember bowling on in England...Hopefully, it is not a trend for the whole series," he added.

Incidentally, it was Broad who cleaned up Khawaja for 112 but had overstepped on the bowling crease.

Speaking on his no-ball, Broad replied: "I'm not a big no-ball bowler. I have probably bowled more today than in a Test match day before. There's no excuse. But it is the first innings of an Ashes Test match, you have some big emotions there so you are trying to gain energy from the surface and maybe pushing a little bit too hard".

(AFP inputs)