Stuart Broad and the fairy tale ending that only he could have had

July 31, 2023, The Oval. A capacity crowd awaits what could be a truly momentous Ashes conclusion. Australia have retained the urn but England could yet tie this manic Ashes iteration. There is the threat of rain too, adding multiple layers of intrigue.

The rain does arrive, and it washes out the entirety of the second session. Australia, when the third session, which has 52 overs scheduled in it, begins, are only three wickets down and on the verge of achieving the impossible.

No team has ever chased down such a big total at The Oval in the fourth innings. And here Australia are – the reigning World Test Championship winners, and according to many, the perfect antidote to Bazball.

England, though, courtesy of Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali, grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Australia lose four wickets for 11 runs just after tea, and the match swung in the hosts’ favour.

Then, just as it seems England would trample over the visitors, Alex Carey and Todd Murphy start stitching together a partnership. Normally, a ninth-wicket stand should not bother top-quality Test sides. In this series, though, the eighth and ninth-wicket partnerships have already won matches – both for Australia and England.

The atmosphere at The Oval, at this stage, is an equal blend of anticipation, excitement and tension. Moeen and Woakes have bowled themselves into the ground, and look visibly spent. England want to keep going back to them because of how well they are bowling. But it is just not possible anymore.

They now need a saviour – someone who can stand up to the occasion, get the crowd roaring, get those knees pumping and bowl two genuine wicket-taking deliveries that would get the better of anyone yielding a willow.

Guess who steps up?

Of course, it is Stuart Broad. In his last Test. With the game and the Ashes on the line. All England needed was two devilish deliveries. All Broad needed was a fairytale ending. All the universe wanted was to make it happen.

Stuart Broad, one of our best ever, signing out in perfect fashion ❤️ pic.twitter.com/S5gZ4YQ3dE

Stuart Broad wrapped up a series-levelling victory for England

This piece, to make things clear, is not about how Broad managed to dismiss Carey and Murphy, and how he sealed a series-levelling victory for England. Rather, it should be about reminiscing how Broad has regularly been this bowler England turn to when in strife and how he, more than others, has that uncanny knack of getting into a rhythm – one where even the best batter on the planet looks clueless.

Broad’s Test records are legendary, whichever way you look at it. Playing 167 Tests as a fast bowler is an achievement in itself. Add to that the 604 wickets he took, and it becomes clear why he is regarded so highly by those who have played the game or have watched it in abundance this century.

Happy retirement, Broad!

You have truly honoured our game with sheer passion and thriving ability to always go hard at it.

600+ Test Wickets is quite an achievement and Cricket will always remember your services 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/yey7mjdKn1

But because of what his best pal James Anderson was doing at the other end, Broad’s accolades often flew under the radar. That is no crime, for Anderson is arguably one of the greatest fast bowlers to have ever surveyed the Test arena.

Today, though, is about Broad, and how he managed to trump the odds, one last time.

The lanky pacer also had the ability to wind up the opposition. Even when he was not picking wickets, he occupied, as social media would call it, a rent-free space in the opposition’s mind.

Whether it was interchanging the bail or telling Carey that he would only be remembered for that Jonny Bairstow run-out. Broad did get under the opposition’s skin. It might have made the opposition weaker, more circumspect and lesser focussed. But it most definitely made Broad a better bowler and a fiercer competitor.

Do not forget the runs he scored lower down the order for England either. Yes, he may not have become the all-rounder many thought he was destined to, especially after his sublime ton against Pakistan, but he still ended up scoring 3663 runs despite not being a very technically sound batter towards the end of his career.

Oh, and he remains the first (and perhaps only) real exponent of the Nighthawk.

The most vivid memory of him, though, will be how he used to conjure up magical spells out of nothing. He picked up six or more wickets 12 times in Test cricket. The pacer took less than 15 overs to do so on five of those occasions. On the instances he picked up six or more wickets in an innings, he bowled more than 20 overs just five times.

If that does not tell you all about Broad, nothing ever will.

The seamer, by no stretch, was the most perfect fast bowler that ever existed. He had his off days and there would be matches where he would not look incisive and he would seem the most pedestrian bowler to have turned up for England in the 21st century.

Then, all of a sudden, something would click and Broad would run away with the game. That, as absurd as it might sound, might have made things even more difficult for the batting side, as compared to facing someone like Anderson, who they would know would be accurate and for the lack of a better word, slightly predictable.

In Broad’s case, none of that could happen. There would have been times when even he would not have known that one of those spells was around the corner. One ball would pitch right, it would deviate just enough, and it would thud into the keeper’s gloves.

Once that happened, the knees would start pumping. The follow-throughs would get more extravagant and the most docile of pitches would obey his commands. Oh, there, he was almost incomparable.

Fittingly, that is what his last Test was all about too. After 18 overs in the second innings, the 37-year-old was wicketless and was not seeming as threatening as he could have been on a wearing surface.

With the crowd on their feet, realizing this was the last they would see of Broad in England colours, he found his mojo. Two absolute beauties later, England had levelled the Ashes and the pacer, having indulged in all the pre-series chatter about the previous Ashes instalment being “void”, had applied his signature coup de grâce.

Whenever Broad looks back at his career, he would be proud of what he has achieved. Whenever an England fan does so, he will feel pride that a bowler of his ilk played for so many years for England and served them so well.

However long you look at those numbers, though, they will never tell you how far one of those spells was. That was the beauty of it all. That was the theatre around Broad. And that is what the international game will miss now.