"I heard he was good, but he's rubbish" - Stuart Broad opens up on one of his biggest fears over prolonging career

England legend Stuart Broad has opened up on one of the biggest fears with regard to prolonging his Test career. He stated that he wanted to go out on a high and not when young batters were finding his bowling “rubbish”.

Broad retired from professional cricket following the conclusion of the 2023 Ashes. He finished his stellar Test career with 604 wickets from 167 matches at an average of 27.68, picking up 20 five-fers and three 10-wicket match hauls.

In an interaction with AB de Villiers on the latter’s YouTube channel, the former England pacer discussed his retirement decision in detail. He said:

“Moving on from the game is one of the toughest decisions you could ever make. For me, I wanted to still love the game. I wanted to still know I could compete at the top level when I moved on. Ultimately, I wanted to finish at the very top. I’d almost say that one of my biggest fears was bowling against 20-year-old opening batters and them going, ‘I heard he was good, but he’s rubbish’. I knew I wanted to finish while I can still do it."

The 37-year-old added that once was sure he wanted to finish on top and not settle for anything less, the decision to quit became a lot simpler. He stated:

“I never wanted that feeling of going six months too late or finishing with my last act on a cricket field being a torn hamstring and you are never seen again. That was tearing my mind a bit. As soon as I got to grips with the feeling of wanting to finish on top… England vs Australia has always been the pinnacle for me in my career.”

Broad is England’s leading wicket-taker in the Ashes, with 153 scalps from 40 matches at an average of 28.96.

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“Never thought it could have ended up in the fairy tale that it did” - Broad

After announcing his decision to quit, Broad walked away on an ultimate high, claiming the last two wickets to fall in the final Ashes 2023 Test at The Oval as England leveled the series 2-2.

Reliving the perfect finish, the Englishman admitted:

“I’ve never thought it could have ended up in the fairy tale that it did, actually taking a wicket with the final ball to win a Test match. It hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s probably been only 10 days. I have no regrets. I am feeling very calm and relaxed about the situation.”

Broad dismissed Todd Murphy and Alex Carey as Australia were bowled out for 334 at The Oval after being set a target of 384.