After the third day of play at The Oval, Stuart Broad said that the fifth Ashes Test will be his final match. He also confirmed his decision to retire from professional cricket, after a 17-year international career.
In the Oval Test, Broad joined James Anderson as the only pacers to reach 600 Test wickets, and he also became the third bowler in Ashes history to record 150 or more Ashes Test wickets. He will leave the game having taken the fifth-most wickets in Test cricket.
Broad currently has 602 Test wickets and will have the chance to increase that total during Australia’s chase. He will also have the chance to increase his total of 3656 runs when England resumes their second innings at 389/9. Broad has amassed eight five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul in his 167-test career to date. Broad’s last ODI match was in 2016, and in 56 T20I games, the last of which was in 2014, he took 65 wickets, finishing with a total of 178 wickets.
It’s been a tremendous experience, a huge honor to wear the Nottinghamshire and the England badge as often as I have, Broad said in a statement to Sky Sports at the conclusion of Day 3. And I’m enjoying cricket more than ever. I’ve had such a great time being a part of this series, and I’ve always wanted to come out on top. And I have the impression that this series has been among the most interesting and amusing ones I have participated in.
Broad claimed that he had been considering retirement for a few weeks and had decided to do so at 8:30 PM on Friday. “I’ve been considering it for a few weeks. The match between England and Australia has always been the pinnacle for me. I have enjoyed the clashes with Australia that have come my way and the team’s way. I also have a crush on the Ashes, and I believe I wanted to play my final game of cricket during an Ashes match.
“I told Stokesy last night and told the changing room this morning, and to be honest, it just felt like the right time and I didn’t want friends or Nottinghamshire teammates to see things that might come out, so I prefer to just say it now, and just give it a good crack for the last Australia innings,” he said. “I’ve given it a lot of consideration, and even last night at 8 o’clock, I was split on it. However, after telling Stokesy in his room, I felt really content and happy with what I had accomplished.
Broad, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in December 2007, recorded his career-best figures in an innings (8 for 15) during the 2015 Ashes Test at Nottingham, helping England bowl Australia out for 60. At the Lord’s, he had previously claimed two seven-wicket hauls. But at the Oval in 2009, Broad bowled Australia out for 160 runs as England went on to win the match by 197 runs and claim the series 2-1. It was one of his most illustrious spells.
In ODIs, Broad only ever recorded a five-wicket haul (5-23 against South Africa in 2008). Additionally, he claimed four wickets in a T20I match against New Zealand in 2013. In addition, Broad was the first bowler in T20 cricket history to take six sixes in a single over when Yuvraj Singh accomplished the feat in the 2007 World T20.
