In the last game against the West Indies, England clinched the victory by taking the lead of 1-2. The visitors lost by 269 runs at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Another highlight of the day was England pacer Stuart Broad grabbing 500 Test wickets.
Stuart Broad reached the landmark by chipping Kraigg Braithwaite for a leg-before-wicket (LBW). The 34-year old pacer became the seventh bowler in history to have scrapped 500 wickets in the longest format of the game and also the fourth quick.
It was back in 2016 that Broad’s One-Day International career was effectively ended by ECB to keep the right-arm pacer going in the Test match arena. Speaking about other pacers joining the 500-wickets club, Broad said that scheduling would now be the issue for the same.
Broad said, “Someone is going to have to play a lot of cricket because there is a lot of competition out there, between different T20 leagues franchises, 100-ball.”
Also Read – IPL Franchises Express Concern Over Players’ Families, Hospitality, Security in Bio-Secure Environment
The English pacer who also marked his 140th Test with a match haul of 10-67 further added that he feels lucky to have played for England in an era where they have played a lot of Test cricket not only in summer but also in the winter.
Broad later expressed his concern by saying that he thinks there are talks of thinning the number of Tests they play in summer.
Stuart Broad further added, “You need a lot of Test matches to get 500 wickets.” He further added, “I think there’ll be people who have the talent to get the numbers but whether they’ll be able to play the amount of Test cricket the seam bowlers have to get that feat remains to be seen.”
Broad’s longtime new-ball partner James Anderson suggested before Tuesday’s game that the 34-year old seamer could surpass his tally eventually. For the unversed, Anderson is approaching 600 Test wickets.
Reacting to Anderson’s comment, Broad said, “I’ve never even thought about that but why not try and follow in Jimmy’s footsteps?”
After the controversial drop-out from the first Test match, Broad bounced back and grabbed 16 wickets with an average of 10.93.