/ Players

Stuart Broad

England

Full name Stuart Christopher John Broad

Born June 24, 1986, Nottingham

Current age 23 years 140 days

Major teams England, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire

Nickname Broady

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Height 6 ft 5 in

Education Oakham School

Relation Father - BC Broad

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	22	31	6	767	76	30.68	1228	62.45	5	104	4	5
ODIs	55	36	14	328	45*	14.90	446	73.54	0	21	4	13
T20Is	18	10	4	36	10*	6.00	29	124.13	0	3	1	6
First-class	61	77	18	1569	91*	26.59	2912	53.88	11			17
List A	72	42	15	374	45*	13.85	520	71.92	0	24	4	15
Twenty20	29	11	5	45	10*	7.50	41	109.75	0	3	1	7

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w
Tests	22	37	4187	2290	64	6/91	6/91	35.78	3.28	65.4	0	3
ODIs	55	55	2733	2340	88	5/23	5/23	26.59	5.13	31.0	4	1
T20Is	18	18	390	518	22	3/17	3/17	23.54	7.96	17.7	0	0
First-class	61		10534	6005	201	6/91		29.87	3.42	52.4	6	10
List A	72		3515	3028	113	5/23	5/23	26.79	5.16	31.1	4	1
Twenty20	29	29	642	727	37	3/13	3/13	19.64	6.79	17.3	0	0

Career statistics

Test debut	Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (SSC), Dec 9-13, 2007 scorecard
Last Test	England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 20-23, 2009 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	England v Pakistan at Cardiff, Aug 30, 2006 scorecard
Last ODI	England v New Zealand at Johannesburg, Sep 29, 2009 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	England v Pakistan at Bristol, Aug 28, 2006 scorecard
Last T20I	England v Australia at Manchester, Aug 30, 2009 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	2005
Last First-class	England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 20-23, 2009 scorecard
List A debut	2005
Last List A	Eagles v England XI at Bloemfontein, Nov 6, 2009 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire at Leicester, Jun 27, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20	England v Australia at Manchester, Aug 30, 2009 scorecard

Profile

With his blond hair and baby-faced good looks, Stuart Broad was already looking like becoming the Next Big Thing of English cricket when he pushed his career into overdrive in a sensational spell of bowling in the fifth and decisive Ashes Test at The Oval in 2009. With the series in the balance, Broad claimed figures of 5 for 37 in 12 overs, including 4 for 8 in 21 balls, and after that there was no coming back for Australia.

In his early cricketing career, Broad had been shaping up to be an opening bat just like his dad Chris, until he suddenly shot up. Within 18 months he had transformed himself into a medium-fast bowler and was playing for England Under-19 and Leicestershire's first XI. A few months later and he's gone from England's A team to a call-up to the full one-day side. Talk about a meteoric rise.

"I thought I may as well try bowling because I can't just stand around in the field all day," he shrugged - and promptly took 9 for 72 for England Under-19s in ODIs against Sri Lanka and 30 first-class wickets at 27.69 in ten matches in 2005.

But those early years as a batsman did not go amiss. After his first eight Tests, he had racked up three half-centuries from the pivotal No. 8 position, and push his Test average above 40 - a mark his father (39.54) just missed out on over the course of his 25-match career.

At the age of just 19, he was called into the England A set-up in the West Indies to replace James Anderson who flew out to bolster the seniors in India and was twice selected for England A during the 2006 season.

His early performances for the one-day team, against Pakistan, were promising but he was left out of the Champions Trophy 14, but more out of a feeling of not wanting to push him too hard, too soon. He was named in the Academy team to be based in Perth during the Ashes and by the end of the winter he had joined the World Cup squad in the Caribbean.

Injury deprived him of a Test debut in May 2007, but he marked his return to the one-day side with 3 for 20 against West Indies at Lord's, and he was then announced in England's squad for the first Test against India in July. His stock continued to rise on tour with England in Sri Lanka when his 11 cheap wickets helped them to a 3-2 series victory.

He was then called up for the subsequent Test series in December, making his debut on a slab of Colombo concrete and toiling for 36 sweaty overs. The subsequent tour of New Zealand proved to be his making, however. With Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison both lacking form, he was selected for the Wellington Test. The decision was immediately vindicated, if not with a huge match-haul then certainly by the composure and control he showed.

The following Test in Napier, however, demonstrated his immense allround talent. A vital 42 helped prop up England's first innings before he took 3 for 54, testing all New Zealand's batsmen with pace and bounce. A diving catch at backward square leg confirmed, if there were any doubts, that England had found themselves a Test cricketer of rare class and even rarer composure.

That impression continued to climb during England's home season in 2008 when no less a technical purist as Geoffrey Boycott likened his tall elegant batting style to Sir Garfield Sobers. Although he has struggled at times for consistency with his bowling, the talent is immistakeable. And with his breakthrough performance behind him, the way is clear to grow in stature.
Jenny Thompson October 2009

Notes

NBC Denis Compton Award 2005

Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketers of the Year 2006

NBC Denis Compton Award 2006

NBC Denis Compton Award 2007