Ashes 2015: Stuart Broad, England’s only positive on a day of agony

Ashes 2015: Stuart Broad, England’s only positive on a day of agony

Stuart Broad is always talked about as the best side kick for James Anderson and on the second day of the second Test at Lord’s, London he brought back England into the game. Australia were going strong, the stand between Chris Rogers and Steven Smith was the highest for any wicket for Australia at Lord’s and just when Australia might be looking for a leeway after the strong platform, Broad bowled a terrific spell on the lifeless deck to keep his team in the game feels Nikhil Popat.

England were 1-0 up after the first Test at Cardiff. They had the momentum, but there was moment at the toss, when Alastair Cook got to know that Australia have won it and would bat first, there was a shrug, a move of acknowledgement of the struggle that was to come for his bowlers on this deck which looked lifeless. And it proved to be right, Australia piled on 337 for one by the one of first day, England had lot of catching up to do, they had to take wickets to stay in the game. Read: Ashes 2015: Stuart Broad will be key to England’s chances against Australia

First ball of the day, James Anderson hit Chris Rogers on the side of his head, Australia got a message that this was not going to be easy, England were bound to make a comeback. He bowled full and on the stumps to Rogers and it worked as Rogers inside edged one onto his stumps for a score of 173. Broad came on and beat Clarke on regular intervals, he had the Australian captain lunging to put bat on ball.  And he did not leave Smith too and got the ball to beat Smith’s bat as well. ALSO READ: Australia make giant strides back into the Ashes 2015 contest

Mark Wood got rid of Michael Clarke but Adam Voges and Steven Smith continued to find the gaps and scoring at a decent rate. After Lunch, Broad bowled another hostile spell, mixing his cutters well. He first got rid of Adam Voges with a nice leg cutter outside off. Voges was looking positive but Broad bowled well to him and he had the reward.

He had a close field for Mitchell Marsh. A couple of slips, two extra covers, a short mid-wicket in place, Broad came in, bowled very full, Marsh drove him nicely to long off fence to get off the mark. That did not deter him from continuing to bowl full. In his next over, he had Marsh going after one outside off, and got a boundary down to third man but Broad had Marsh there. Broad was bowling good line, keeping the pressure on and then he bowled another leg-cutter, which came into Marsh who edged it back onto his stumps. Broad’s figures for the day read, 10-3-32-3!

It was his best spell which came on the back of few good ones in the recent past. He bowled well in the first Test at Sophia Gardens as well. He had picked up five wickets for not many runs and was beating the bat at regular intervals but his work started much earlier.

Bowlers like Broad are the ones who get natural pace and carry from the surface but when they bowl full, they are at their lethal best, New Zealand found that in 2013 when he took seven for 44 in an innings. He is not one of those who would take regular five-wicket hauls, he would chip in with wickets, crucial wickets at timely intervals. Read: Ashes 2015: Stuart Broad is back to his best, claims Alastair Cook

In the Test that England lost at Leeds, he was the best bowler, taking five for 109 in 17.1 overs, he did go for runs but it was because of his poor length at times which was cost him. He then played just the one county game after the Tests as he was duly rested for the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against New Zealand. And in the game against Yorkshire, he took seven for 84 and backed it up with a fifty.

Broad in form is crucial for England, his batting weared down ever since he was hit on his nose by Varun Aaron on 2014. But his batting showed signs of return in the last game when he scored a handy 18. Those were confident runs and when he scores, he tends to bowl better as well. In the over after Tea, on the second day, he had Johnson looking for bat to ball for an over and got him with the fuller one to end with four for 83. Read: Australia end Day Two in command against England in 2nd Ashes Test at Lord’s

On a deck which had little help for the pace bowler, Broad managed to get some movement and was rewarded with four hard earned wickets. James Anderson did not pick up any wickets and England head further in the Ashes 2015 series, they will need more such spells from Broad to back their strike bowler in Anderson.

(Nikhil Popat is cricket lover and a PotterHead. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)