Stuart Broad: Decoding his stats in The Ashes
Veteran pacer Stuart Broad will be critical to England's success in the 2023 home Ashes series against Australia. The five-Test series gets underway on June 16 as the Brits seek to clinch the prestigious urn for the first time since 2015. Broad has enjoyed tackling the Aussies in the longest format and his numbers state the same. Here we decode his Ashes stats.
Highest wicket-taker for England in The Ashes
Broad is England's highest wicket-taker in the Ashes, having snapped 131 wickets in 35 Tests at 29.05. The tally includes eight fifers and a match 10-wicket haul. Only England's Ian Botham (148) and WI's Courtney Walsh (135) own more Test wickets against Australia. Notably, Botham played four Tests against Australia, which were not a part of Ashes. He scalped 20 wickets in those games.
Can Broad get to 150 Ashes wickets?
Overall, Broad is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the Ashes, behind the Australian trio of Shane Warne (195), Glenn McGrath (157), and Hugh Trumble (141). The pacer hence can become the third bowler to complete 150 Ashes wickets.
A look at his Ashes record at home
84 of Broad's total Ashes wickets have come in 20 home Tests at an average of 26.19. No other England bowler has more wickets in this regard. Meanwhile, Broad has recorded six Ashes five-wicket hauls at home which includes his best Test figures of 8/15. His solitary match 10-wicket haul in Ashes also came in a home Test in 2013.
20-plus wickets in four Ashes
Notably, Broad is the only England bowler to take 20 or more wickets in four separate Ashes series (2013, 2013/14, 2015, 2019). Ian Botham, Bob Willis, Tom Richardson, and Bobby Peel took 20 or more in three separate Ashes campaigns.
Dominance over Warner
Broad was all over Australia's dashing opener David Warner in the 2019 Ashes. He dismissed the batter as many as seven times in the series. No other bowler has dismissed a particular batter more times in a bilateral Test series. Warner could manage only 95 runs across 10 innings in that series. Even overall, the pacer has dismissed Warner most times in Tests (14).
His numbers against other Australian batters
Broad has also dismissed Australia's Steve Smith nine times in Tests, most by any bowler. The dashing Travis Head has fallen prey to him thrice in 11 innings. The pacer has dismissed Usman Khawaja five times in 20 Test meetings. Marnus Labuschagne has gifted his wicket to Broad just once in 13 Test innings. Broad has also dismissed Alex Carey once in four innings.
Fifth-highest wicket-takers in Tests
Broad, who scalped 5/51 and 1/62 in his last outing against Ireland, is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. In July 2022, he became just the third pacer to pick 550 Test wickets. The right-arm pacer now has 582 wickets from 162 matches at an average of 27.65. Among England players, only James Anderson (685) has scalped more Test wickets (5W: 20, 10W: 3).
