England pacer James Anderson has revealed that Stuart Broad thought about retiring from professional cricket last season, but Test captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum talked him into it. After an illustrious career, Broad retired following England’s victory in The Oval Test. It was a fairytale ending as the fast bowler took the last two Australian Wickets. The host won the Test by 49 runs to draw the Ashes at 2-2.
In his column for The Telegraph, Anderson spoke candidly on the retirement of his long-time fast bowling partner.
“Stuart told me about his retirement over a coffee before we got on the team bus for the third day’s play. I was a bit shocked initially but when it sank in, it was not a surprise. He considered it last summer but Baz and Stokesy managed to talk him out of it,” the 41-year-old wrote.
Anderson further revealed that the England team presented a boxed bottle of champagne as a gift to Broad, with each player writing a personal message. The veteran cricketer revealed on his writing:
“It was hard crunching 15 years of cricket together in a couple of sentences. I just wrote ‘it’s hard to know where to start. Thanks for all the memories, I owe you so much’.
“I might send him a little gift in the next few weeks when I’ve properly thought about it. We talked about the photo of us going out to bat on day five at the Oval, perhaps I will get a couple of those blown up. It is definitely the one photo I would like hanging in my house,” Anderson added.
Thank you, @StuartBroad8 ???? pic.twitter.com/Qbi7TvGYDY
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 1, 2023
Stuart Broad retired from International Cricket after a stellar performance as England’s leading wicket-taker in the Ashes 2023. He played in all five Tests and took 22 wickets at an average of 28.41.
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He Deserved His Send-Off- James Anderson on Him and Broad Not Retiring Together
Sharing his thoughts on Stuart Broad’s retirement, James Anderson said that the right-arm fast bowler got a wonderful farewell. He was also glad that the two did not retire together as Stuart Broad deserved his departure.
“Then if you look back on the Ashes series, as he said himself it was the perfect way to go out. It was nice we did not go out at the same time together as well. We have always been put in a bracket as a partnership but he is in his own right one of the best bowlers England have ever produced so he deserved his own send-off,” Anderson wrote
Simply incredible numbers ???? pic.twitter.com/ukPRuBKAnl
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 1, 2023
While Broad was the second-leading wicket-taker in Ashes 2023, Anderson had a disappointing series, taking five wickets in four tests at an average of 85.40.
