The Ashes: Australia's cricket enemy No.1, Stuart Broad, heading Down Under with Channel 7

West Australian

6 days ago

Australia's most despised Englishman is going to add fire to the hottest Test cricket series ever played on Australian soil.
Stuart Broad — the English fast bowler Australian fans love to hate — has been unveiled as a Channel 7 expert for the blockbuster Ashes series this summer.
The recently retired paceman is the man who controversially refused to walk during the 2013 series despite hitting a ball to slip and who whinged the hardest when Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow at Lord's during the fiery 2023 clash.
Now he will sit alongside Aussie legends like Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden as the old enemy returns, with cricketing tensions between the two nations at an all-time high.
Broad will be a part of Channel 7's leading coverage for all five matches of the series, which kicks off with The West Test in Perth from November 21.
The 167-Test champion said stirring the pot with Australian rivals was just part of his nature and said the feeling from the 2023 series will carry through this time around.
'I wouldn't say I've loved winding them up, it seems to have come quite naturally,' Broad said.
'I think Ashes series, the history of it, always brings emotion. I think anyone who has played an Ashes series will say it is the best cricket you can play, it's the absolute pinnacle and you remember certain moments in Ashes series that define your career in a sense.
'The 2023 Ashes series here had a lot of emotion to it, particularly ignited by the Bairstow run-out and how everything turned about there.
'I think that brings a lot of emotion and excitement about this Ashes series. The next time the teams will meet will be in November. There's a lot of players still playing from those series and they will remember what happened in that.'
England's players were at the centre of another flashpoint this week when they reacted petulantly to India's batters rejecting their calls for an early draw so they could reach their centuries.
Broad warned his former teammates they were up against an entire nation, not just the Australian team.
'I know the Australian press picked up on the handshake stuff between England and India a little more than the English press did, but that's how Ashes series will work,' he said.
'One thing you know as an England player when you go to Australia — and I really respect everything about this — you are not going to play against 11 cricketers, you are going to play against the country.
'Everyone wants to beat you, whether you are going to a restaurant or for a drink in a bar, you are England versus Australia.'
Broad admitted Australia — who have not lost an Ashes on home soil since 2010-11 — had the wood over his side for a long time, but warned England will bring a team that is up for the challenge.