BBL side Hobart Hurricanes sign Stuart Broad for 2016-17 season

Stuart Broad is hopeful that a successful BBL stint can help him resurrect his international T20 career

England fast bowler Stuart Broad has signed up to represent Hobart Hurricanes in the 2016-17 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) in a hope to resurrect his international career in the shorter formats of the game. With the fifth Test between India and England scheduled to end on December 20, three days before Hurricanes’ first match in the BBL, the 30-year-old could be available for the entirety of the BBL season. 

While Broad is ever-present in the England Test team, he has been regularly overlooked in the other two formats of the game having last played a T20 international in 2014 while he has played only 2 ODIs since England’s dismal 2015 World Cup campaign. However, Broad has time and again reiterated his wish to play more white-ball cricket and is hopeful that a successful stint in the BBL will force the English selectors into a rethink over their stance. 

"It's tricky because I haven't played any white-ball cricket," Broad said in June, after not being selected for the one-day series against Sri Lanka. "I think I saw a quote saying this squad had been picked on merit and I can't argue with that at all because it's not as if I've gone out there and taken a certain amount of white-ball wickets. I'm going to have to find a way to do that.

"I'm going to look at scheduling, whether it's home or abroad, to try to play some white-ball cricket and there might be a decent opportunity after Christmas this year because there's not a lot of Test cricket then until I think July. The only way I'll get back is by playing white-ball cricket and that's the only way my skills will improve, too."

Those words have proved to be true now with Broad choosing the exact window he referred to in June to play T20 cricket. He revealed that it was interaction with Australia’s Dan Christian, who is Broad’s skipper at English county side Nottinghamshire, which helped him zero in on which side to sign for in the BBL.  

“Australia is one of my favourite places to play, the pitches and the crowds make for great cricket and atmosphere. It has been really good to have Hurricanes teammate, Dan Christian, playing with me at Notts who has been really positive about the Hobart Hurricanes and also the city of Hobart which I'm looking forward to embracing," Broad said. 

Damien Wright, the Hobart Hurricanes coach is looking forward to have Broad over in the summer and believes that the experienced Englishman can prove to be a real asset for the team’s aspirations. 

"Stuart Broad has an incredible record in all three formats and his knowledge of the game overall will be a huge asset for our bowling group going forward," Wright said. "He will give us great firepower with the ball and will be a fantastic inclusion into our pace attack joining Shaun Tait, Jake Reed and Sam Rainbird. We now have two of the biggest names in our game playing for the Hobart Hurricanes and our members and fans should be extremely excited for BBL 06."

Broad will be joining Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara as the Hurricanes’ second overseas signing for the season.