Broad's brush with Australia fuelled Ashes fire

For a while on Wednesday afternoon, the fourth Test carried a distinct whiff of the previous Ashes encounter at Old Trafford in 2019, a match Australia came to dominate through their first innings batting and ultimately won emphatically to retain the urn.

As was the case on day one four years hence, Australia had stumbled early, losing both openers in the first session before a middle-order recovery led by Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith saw them reach 4-183 and – ultimately – a towering total of 9(dec)-497.

When Labuschagne was dismissed upon reaching a half-century yesterday, Australia's total stood spookily at 4-183 once more and the batter that loomed as most likely to lift them to impregnability was Travis Head who was unbeaten on 44 and striking almost a run per ball.

Ashes aficionados will not be surprised to know the man who then stepped up to prevent history repeating was Stuart Broad, now the most successful England bowler in Tests against Australia and a central character in some of those recent series' most pivotal moments.

Not only was Broad's removal of Head – to a miscued hook shot after he had safely, if skittishly, survived an even more hostile bouncer barrage from the much faster Mark Wood – crucial in the game's context, it also yielded him his 600th Test scalp.

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Only one other seamer in Test cricket's 146-year history can lay claim that achievement, and the fact Broad was bowling from the James Anderson End when the milestone moment arrived only enhanced the occasion given his long and fruitful union with the game's most successful quick.

It was the fifth ball of Broad's first over after tea, with England having decided during the break he would switch ends and deploy the bouncer strategy which has become the 37-year-old's new stock in trade after making his reputation as an attack-the-stumps swing and seam specialist.

"It felt a really important wicket in the day," Broad said at the close of day one, with Australia 8-299 having been sent into bat and England looking to clean up those last two wickets with a new ball in the morning.

"We chatted at tea, obviously Trav was smashing the ball when we over-pitched so … I was going to start at the far end (where Anderson and Wood had been operating) and change tactics slightly.

"So for that to work straight away after tea was great.

"I've definitely bowled more bouncers in the past 14 months than I have in the previous 14 years, I think.

"It's certainly been a plan of the captain (Ben Stokes) that he wants to go down that route at times.

"It's something I've done for (my county team) Notts on occasions and I do enjoy that style of bowling.

"I think my height helps with that, I don't have to dig the ball in too short."

The key to claiming Head's wicket, which triggered another middle-order wobble during which Australia lost four wickets in the day's final session, was the different trajectory Broad was able to produce.

Whereas Wood had troubled Head due to his 150kph raw speed, his skiddier delivery point meant bouncers were often either banged in so short as to steeple above the batter's head or come through shoulder high with the left-hander able to 'ride' the bounce.

Broad's bouncer was perfectly positioned above the peak of Head's batting helmet which meant he was unable to control his attempted pull shot that was neatly caught by England's regular slips specialist Joe Root running in from the deep backward square leg boundary.

The evergreen England quick now stands clear at the top of the series wicket-taking list with 18 after claiming 2-68 from 14 overs yesterday, a testament to not only his durability but also a new-found versatility.

"His statistics speak for themselves," said Labuschagne, whose equal innings-high score of 51 represented one of seven batters in Australia's top eight to reach double figures but not make it to 55.

"This series especially he's been very impressive to show his versatility on wickets that probably didn't have as much pace and nip at times, but he's able to create really good angles on the crease, with his swing.

"He was able to work on getting one to shape away a bit, then the bouncer plan.

"It just shows his versatility because we know if the conditions are good for bowling then he will always be a handful, but he's shown through the series – and his career – that when it's not, he can still keep it tight and wait for his opportunity and work a batter out."

Broad unapologetically admits Ashes matches bring out the best in his hard-nosed character.

Having spent a summer at age 17 playing club cricket with Hoppers Crossing in Melbourne's southwest, he quickly learned "about the competitive side of Australians" and developed a decidedly Aussie level of combativeness to his cricket.

But he was also steeped in Ashes history and tribalism, having watched his father (Chris, former England opening batter turned ICC match referee) excel against the old enemy in the 1980s before Australia came to dominate their rivals throughout Stuart's childhood in the subsequent decade.

"I grew up completely obsessed with watching Ashes cricket and I suppose that's why some of my heroes are Warnie (Shane Warne), Glenn McGrath, and a lot of the great Aussie teams because as a kid you are influenced by winning sides and they were a huge winning side," he said.

"But I think it also built up my steeliness to want a be a part of England teams that could win the Ashes as well, having gone through a whole childhood without lifting them.

"I probably grew up with a bit more of an Australian mindset from watching the Australian team rather than an England mindset of the 90s."

Broad's future as a Test bowler appeared clouded prior to the appointment of Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum as England coach last year, having been left out of the opening Test of the previous Ashes campaign in Australia and the team's subsequent series in the Caribbean.

But upon being recalled by the new regime, and used as a strike weapon that's seen him become the most prolific Test pace bowler worldwide since the start of the 'Bazball' revolution in mid-2022, Broad claims to be enjoying cricket as much or more than any time in his remarkable 16-year tenure.

He attributes that fresh lease of life to the atmosphere created within the England dressing room under Stokes and McCullum, and their philosophy which he expects to be unleashed at perhaps previously unseen levels when England take the field at Old Trafford later today.

"It is such a free changing room, it feels, in the nicest possible way, that you are playing club cricket, but at the highest level," Broad said, despite England facing the reality they must win the fourth Test to have a chance of regaining the Ashes given they trail the five-match series 1-2.

"That is such a great place to be as a 37-year-old.

"You turn up each day and it's really fun.

"There is no fear of failure or judgement, it's about moving the game forward and I think that suits me.

"We're going to try and move the game forward pretty quickly from the start of play (on day two), and we just hope the Manchester weather leans on our side and we get five days of cricket."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: England won by three wickets

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood