Stuart Broad bowed out of international cricket on a high, picking a wicket on his last ball to script England’s Ashes levelling 2-2 victory over Australia in the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval on Monday (July 31).
After the third day’s play, Broad confirmed that the Oval Test against Australia will be the last match of his international cricket career.
"It was absolutely wonderful, the crowd were unbelievable. It was so loud and we just jumped on the back of that. To contribute to the team with two wickets is very special. When you make that decision you wonder what your last ball will be so to take a wicket to win an Ashes Test match is pretty cool," Broad told Sky Sports after England’s 49-run victory in the fifth Test.
Chasing 384 to win, the visitors got off to a brilliant start as the duo of David Warner and Usman Khawaja added 140 runs for the opening wicket. However, game-changing spells by Chris Woakes (4-50) and Moeen Ali (3-76) denied Australia their first Ashes win away from home since 2001.
"I thought Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali set the tone absolutely unbelievably. Woakesy picked up a couple of wickets, particularly Steve Smith, who has just been a wonderful player to play against all these years. Once we got a couple we really started to believe," he added.
Broad mentioned Moeen Ali, who also announced his Test retirement after the Oval Test, as a "special friend".
"A special mention to Moeen, he's not officially announced he's moving on, but we've played a lot together and he's been such a special friend," Broad stated.
"To put that performance in to help England win an Ashes Test match will be a dream come true for him," he further said.
In Test cricket, Stuart Broad picked up 604 wickets in 167 matches and also made handy contributions with the bat, scoring 3656 runs at an average of 18 with one century and 13 fifties. He ranks as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in Test history and second among English bowlers.
In the white-ball formats, Broad played a key role as well, taking 178 wickets from 121 ODIs. He is the fourth-highest wicket-taker for England in the 50-over format. Moreover, Broad secured 65 wickets in 56 T20Is and was part of England’s maiden T20 World Cup triumph in 2010.
Talking about his remarkable longevity, Broad said: "I like detail, data and I like to research things. I almost need facts and data for me to believe something. That was something that was very evident when I decided to come round the wicket in 2015 and really worked on bowling to left-handers around the wicket. My data wasn't very good so I had to make a change. I did a lot of research into Davey Warner because I found him difficult to bowl at and to try and find a way to dismiss him.”
"In Test cricket it is about knowing what your weaknesses are but finding your exact strengths and sticking to them so strongly and not getting knocked away. Test cricket and the whole environment, there's a lot of things trying to knock you off the straight road, but if you can stay on it you'll have a lot of success coming your way. I've found that a lot more in the last 10 years and I've focused solely on what my super strengths are and I've stuck to them in this series."
