Stuart Broad      

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 ...

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, his unmistakable talent was out on show again against South Africa in Durban in 2009. He combined with Graeme Swann to produce a match-defining spell in the second innings, taking 4 for 43 to burst through the vaunted middle order and condemn South Africa to an innings defeat.
Jenny Thompson December 2009