Former England skipper Nasser Hussain lavished praise on pacer Stuart Broad’s commitment after his stunning bowling spell on Day 4 of the first Ashes 2023 Test against Australia.
Nasser described him as someone who will “give it his all until he hangs up his boots”.
Broad gave hosts the upper hand in the ongoing Edgbaston Test by dismissing Marnus Labuschagne (13) and Steven Smith (6) in the final session of play on Day 4.
Australia were well-placed at 78 for 1 when Broad dismissed Labuschagne and Smith. The visitors were 107 for 3 at the end of play on Day 4, needing 174 to win on Day 5, with seven wickets in hand.
“He is one who can say that he always gave it his absolute everything. Broad was on his knees with two balls to go in that spell, he had been sprinting back to the end of his mark to beat the clock and bowl one more over, and that for me is all you can ever ask of an England cricketer,” Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.
“With him, he strains every sinew, gives every ounce of effort and he’s just going to give it everything until he hangs up his boots. His sense of theatre, his sense of occasion, his sense of when to lift his game, and his sense of how to get great players out is second to none.
“You can see Broad cares about this, his ninth and possibly last Ashes series, as much if not more than his previous eight and his record against Australia is what he will be remembered for. Even at 36, he went away and worked behind the scenes to perfect the outswinger that did for Labuschagne and Smith in this fourth innings. And if you want to know how much Broad puts his body through, you should have seen his feet after the first innings. Shoeless, he walked towards me, his whole foot strapped, toenail falling off, blood seeping out of the bandages,” he added.
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