After being dropped for the first Test match against West Indies, England pacer Stuart Broad made a thrilling comeback and scrapped three wickets. Broad’s three-wicket haul in the second Test match at Old Trafford on Sunday kept England in the hunt for leveling the three-match series. After winning the first Test match West Indies were aiming to win the series but on the fourth day, they were dismissed for 287 in reply to England’s first innings 469-9 declared. Having failed to enforce the follow-on, England was standing at 37-2 in their second innings at stumps with an overall lead of 219 while leading into the final day of the second match.
Post picking the three wickets, elated Stuart Broad said that he can follow the example of long-standing new-ball colleague James Anderson by extending his career into his late 30s. Anderson and Broad are England’s most successful wicket-taking pair and they are also their team’s new-ball specialist.
Broad is only second to Anderson in England’s list of all-time leading Test wicket-takers list, and with the Sunday’s three-wicket haul he now has 488 wickets while compared to Anderson’s 587 wickets.
Although being several years younger to Anderson who will be turning 38 at the end of this month, Broad often gets put into an older category than he is.
The 34-year old pacer told the reporters, “I think sometimes I get put in an older category than I am.” Broad further added, “Jimmy has taken around 130 Test wickets since he was my age, why can’t I do the same?”
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Broad said that he is still hungry and his fitness levels are also good hence there’s no bad to try and emulate what Anderson has done and plays to his age.
Before this match, England’s captain Joe Root suggested that the days of Broad and Anderson regularly playing in the same Test side could come to an end, citing a desire to prolong their individual careers as long as possible and with the selectors preferring to look at other combinations ahead of Australia’s 2021/22 Ashes tour.
Commenting on the same, Broad said, “I want to play with Jimmy again and hope he feels the same. We complement each other and create a lot of pressure together. When our paths cross again might depend on workloads but I hope we play together this summer and would be surprised if we don’t.”
Well, the bowling pair of Broad and Anderson has grabbed 851 Test wickets combined in 112 matches played together.