"A couple of policemen did me a favor" - Stuart Broad shares an interesting insight into Marnus Labuschagne's dismissal

Veteran England fast bowler Stuart Broad made a cheeky observation over Marnus Labuschagne’s dismissal on Day 2 of the Edgbaston Test. He stated that a couple of policemen did him a favor by getting in the Australian batter’s ‘eyeliner’.

Broad dismissed David Warner (9) and Labuschagne (0) early on Day 2 of the second Ashes 2023 Test on Saturday, June 17. Warner perished to his nemesis for the 15th time in Tests, dragging a wide ball back onto the stumps.

In walked Labuschagne and poked at an outswinger from Broad. The edge was brilliantly caught by Jonny Bairstow behind the wickets. Reflecting on the key dismissal, Broad wrote in The Daily Mail:

“As for the ball that got Labuschagne, that’s the one I am looking to bowl him by design. A couple of policemen did me a favor when they got in Marnus’ eyeliner and slowed things down a bit, allowing me to focus and with that one I was able to follow through with the plan and that’s always a really nice feeling.

Admitting that wobble seam is his favourite delivery, he added that beating players on the inside edge on slower pitches can be really tough. The seasoned pacer added:

“I played three out of my four County Championship games for Nottinghamshire this season on really slow pitches, so I wanted to bring the outside edge into things more and that’s why I worked on it with Kevin Shine, our bowling coach, earlier this year.”

Broad also expressed disappointment over his poor execution with regard to the hat-trick ball to Steve Smith. He wrote:

“My was execution was zero. The plan to Steve Smith was a yorker or full toss, and to be honest, he shocked me with how much he moved.”

While Smith survived the hat-trick ball, he could not play a big innings and was trapped LBW by Ben Stokes for 16.

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“One of the slowest pitches I can remember in England” - Broad

While Australia recovered from 67/3 to end Day 2 on 311/3, Broad asserted that England are pretty happy with where things stand in the Test match. He opined that the pitch at Edgbaston is one the slowest he has encountered in English conditions.

Writing about the challenge of bowling on the batting-friendly surface, Broad explained:

“You have certain pitches you would roll up, tuck under your arm and take with you wherever you played. This isn’t one of them. It sapped the life out of the ball whenever you hit it. The energy I created during that first hour with two wickets in as many balls came from the stands.

“So far, one of the slowest pitches I can remember in England has proved difficult to create a mistake from a good length but that can change in a day - that’s the exciting thing about Test match cricket. The conditions keep evolving and changing. We have had two days of sunshine, but there could be some cloud around yet and it could swing a little bit,” he added.

Australia will resume Day 3 at Edgbaston trailing England by 82 runs, with Usman Khawaja batting on 126 and Alex Carey on 52.