3 biggest controversies of Stuart Broad's career 

Controversies and Stuart Broad have been fellow travellers throughout the England seamer's career. The tall right-arm bowler remained his team's bowling mainstay for nearly 15 years and formed, with James Anderson, one of the most efficient bowling duos cricket has ever seen.

Broad announced his retirement at the end of the third day’s play of the fifth and final test of the Ashes 2023, which came as a shock to most people.

And as they say, it’s better to leave when the question is 'why' and not 'why not'. He recently entered the 600+ wicket club, making him one of the greats to play Test cricket.

With an international career that saw 37 four-wicket hauls, 21 five-wicket hauls, 13 fifties, and a solitary century to his name, Stuart Broad certainly leaves a huge void to fill in the English team.

While his bowling made a huge impact, Broad statements and actions, on and off the field, sometimes overshadowed it. It made the veteran a controversial cricketer at times.

In this article, we will look at the three of the biggest controversies of Stuart Broad's career.

#3. 'Not a real Ashes'

Weeks before the first Test at Edgbaston of the ongoing Ashes 2023, Stuart Broad spurred a huge debate and controversy. He said that in his mind, Australia's 4-0 series win in 2020–21 was "void" as that series didn't feel like a real Ashes.

England were comprehensively beaten in four of the five Tests in 2021–22, with only wet weather in Sydney saving them from a third series whitewash in 15 years.

Broad said the fact that England had to endure a quarantine period and the teams spent part of the tour in a bubble meant it was not a true contest.

Writing for England's Daily Mail, Broad opined:

"Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series. But in my mind, I don't classify that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is an elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game. Nothing about that series had high-level performance because of the COVID restrictions. Because of the training facilities, the travel, and not being able to socialize, I've written it off as a void series."

#2. Ball tampering controversy

Stuart Broad was once again in the spotlight in 2010 when television pictures captured him appearing to put the spikes of his boot into the ball. This transpired during the third day's play of the third Test against South Africa at Newlands.

The footage showed Broad stopping a rolling ball with the bottom of his boot and appearing to then step hard on it.

The footage led to allegations that the ability of the England bowlers to gain reverse swing earlier in the first innings had been helped by illegal methods. James Anderson had picked up a five-for, dismissing the likes of Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince. This further intensified the allegations.

#1. Not walking off even after edging the ball

The most controversial moment of Broad's cricketing career came 10 years ago. He was involved in what would go down as one of the most infamous moments in Ashes history.

During the first Test of the 2013 Ashes at Trent Bridge, Broad tried to cut left-arm spinner Ashton Agar behind point. However, he could only edge it and the ball ricocheted off Brad Haddin's gloves into the hands of Michael Clarke in the slip cordon.

Australian players were confident and started to celebrate, but umpire Aleem Dar thought otherwise and gave the batsman not out, and Broad didn't walk off either. Australia had already used up their reviews. So, the English batsman continued his innings.

The seemingly nonchalant reaction of Stuart Broad led to him facing severe criticism in Australia. Later that year, when the English team toured Australia for another Ashes series, Broad was constantly booed by the Australian crowds. The Aussie media painted him as a pantomime villain.

However, Broad has no regrets about not walking and explained why he decided to do so. Recently, he told ESPNcricinfo that he wouldn't change it for anything.

"I wouldn't change it for anything. I was thinking, we needed more runs there; we're 230 ahead. If I get out, we lose the game. So I'm never going to just walk off and accept a loss. I looked up at Aleem, and he said, 'Not out.'"