When West Indies played England in the 1st Test of this Black Lives Matters series in England, it went on to become the most watched test match in the history of the sport. And this happened without a single spectator in the ground over those 5 days at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Why?! Because live cricket returned after 3 months of being away due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While it was a great match for everyone involved including the visitors who ended up taking a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series, it wasn’t the best time for a certain Stuart Broad. Often regarded as one of the best Test bowlers the country has ever seen, it was a shocking decision to leave Broad out of their ‘best eleven’.
Everyone concerned realize their mistake when England lost the 1st Test and in case they didn’t realize, Broad made it quite evident that he wasn’t happy to be warming the bench. The 34-year old didn’t take it well but he decided to let his bowling do the talking for him. He picked 3 wickets in each innings of the 2nd Test and helped England draw the series 1-1.
The all-important 3rd Test began a few days back and Day 2 and 3 turned out to be magical ones for Broad. When they lost 3 quick wickets on Day 2, he backed his side with the bat and smashed the third fastest ever Test fifty by an Englishman, reaching there in 33 balls, behind two of Ian Botham’s test fifties (28 balls vs India; 32 balls vs New Zealand). Allan Lamb and Andrew Flintoff also have 33-ball fifties!
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Personally, it was his first fifty since 2017 and his highest score since 2013 as he ended with 62 runs. However, he wasn’t done. He came out on Day 3 to rattle out West Indies in their 1st innings, picking the last 4 wickets and he was on fire as we thought Windies had a chance of making a small fightback. Broad ended with 6/31 and led the side off the field after that effort, now playing in his 140th Test match!
After scoring 200+ and declaring on Day 3 of the Test itself, England set West Indies a target of 399 to win the Test and take home the series but Broad seemed to have other ideas. He picked up the first couple of wickets including those of opener John Campbell and night-watchman Kemar Roach, sending them into stumps at 10/2. Broad ended the day with 499 career test wickets!
Day 4 was drowned out due to rain and when play resumed on Day 5, Broad didn’t waste too much time before getting to the milestone! It was 13.4 when Broad sent in an inswinger that struck Kraigg Brathwaite on the pad and was adjudged LBW (quite plumb honestly) as Broad celebrated this landmark. Ironically, Brathwaite was also James Anderson’s 500th Test victim!
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