By India Today Sports Desk: Stuart Broad bowed out from Test cricket in style with the final two wickets of the Australian team in the final Test match of the Ashes 2023. England won the final Test match by 49 runs at the Oval, levelling the Test series. Broad, who had announced his retirement from Test cricket on Day 3 of the Oval Test match, finished the series as the top wicket-taker of the series with 22 scalps to his name.
Ashes 2023: 5th Test Report
This helped England pull back from 0-2 down to draw 2-2 in the Ashes 2023. Speaking about his career in the post match presentation Broad talked about the one regret in his cricket career. The pacer stated that he rued the fact that he opted for the new ball in the final day in the first Test match at Edgbaston.
“I don’t have many regrets about cricket. But I shouldn’t have taken the new ball at Edgbaston. We failed to create more chances with it and it made Cummins and Lyon easy to bat on. If I could turn the clock back, I would bowl with the old ball. But in the end, when you lose to a great team like Australia, you have to keep your head high,” Broad said.
The pacer would be retiring from Test cricket with a unique memory of dismissing two Australian wickets after fiddling with the bails. Broad played some mind games with Australian players (Marnus Labuschagne and Todd Murphy) in either innings, trying to disrupt their concentration. In both instances the batters got out, helping England break their lull with the ball.
“If I had realized that 10 years ago, it would have been great. Just an Aussie thing but the one with Marnus’ dismissal made me laugh. It was getting a bit frustrating in the end so decided to change the bails and it worked (smiles),” Broad said on the bail-trick.
The Oval was packed on Broad’s final day, with the spectators wearing a white-headband to support the pacer in his last outing. Broad thanked the support and said that he was touched by the gesture.
“I looked across the ground and saw many people wearing the headband. I signed some before heading off the team bus. I picked up a couple of wickets and decided to never take it off,” the pacer concluded.
