"Finishing my last ball ever with a wicket is pretty much a dream way to go" - Stuart Broad on the final spell of his career
England pacer Stuart Broad reflected on his final spell in the fifth Ashes Test as the perfect send-off from international cricket. The 37-year-old, who announced his decision to retire after Day 3, picked up the final two wickets of Australia's run-chase to help England complete a 49-run victory to level the series at 2-2.
Broad picked up left-handers Todd Murphy and Alex Carey, caught behind with his trademark deliveries to the left-handers over his career to sign off on an illustrious England career.
Speaking to his teammate James Anderson in a video shared by England Cricket, Broad felt he could not have come up with a better ending to his career.
"Finishing my last ball ever with a wicket to win an Ashes Test match is pretty much a dream way to go. So when I got the ball they were 7 down I think and it was swinging nicely with left-handers batting. It was almost perfect for my style of bowling. Around the wicket, move it away and trying to get the edge and jump off the energy of the crowd," said Broad.
The veteran pacer finished his Test career with an incredible 604 wickets, the fifth most in cricket history, and almost 850 international scalps.
Test cricket completed ✅
It’s time to start a new innings for Stuart Broad 👨👩👧❤️
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In partnership with James Anderson, the duo has combined for an other-worldly 1,294 wickets in Tests. Broad also had a terrific final series, finishing the Ashes as the second leading wicket-taker with 22 scalps in ten innings at an average of 28.40. He also crossed the 150-wicket mark in the Ashes and finished as the third leading wicket-taker in Ashes history.
"This whole series has not been easy at any stage" - Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad felt this Ashes series was one of the most closely contested battles, with both teams going inch for inch from start to finish. The series ended at 2-2, with four of the five games coming down to the wire.
Broad was hopeful of running the Aussies ragged with a target of 384 in the final Test but admitted feeling nervous when the visitors were 140/0.
"This whole series has not been easy at any stage. It's ebbed and flowed Australia's way then England's way. Coming in 4th innings defending 380 you hope you might have them 40/4. Instead they get 140/0 and you feel oh goodness we can't lose this surely," said Broad.
Despite being ahead 2-0 after the first two Tests, Australia could not seal the deal and win their first red-ball series in England since 2001.
While the Edgbaston and Lord's Tests saw Australia pull out humdingers, the hosts fought back with a close win at Headingley before finishing the job at the Oval in another thriller.