NASSER HUSSAIN: Stuart Broad was born for Ashes cricket – it’s fitting that he took his 600th wicket against Australia with Jimmy Anderson faltering

It was fitting that Stuart Broad got to 600 career Test wickets against Australia as like his father Chris he was born for Ashes cricket.

There’s something about playing against Australia that brings out the best in him. These are the games where you see how much heart he has. He always wants to fight. Some people go missing in the Ashes series. Like his father, one of the heroes of the 1986-87 victory, he never did.

And if it weren’t for the bowler who spent most of his career working the other side, we’d be even more excited about him.

He’s lived in Jimmy Anderson’s shadow at times, but it was nice when Jimmy wasn’t around – like the 2015 Trent Bridge test when he took eight for fifteen – or in a series like this where Jimmy wasn’t at his best . to see Stuart leave.

That’s something he’s always done. Some fast bowlers are highly trained geniuses. Think of someone like Dale Steyn. Others are long-lived, but rarely do you get bowlers so skillful and so driven to want to perform on the big stage, especially in the Ashes.

Broad has been England’s best player with the ball and has consistently stepped up in big games

It’s a series where you have to pick people who really want to be with you in that cauldron, under that pressure and in that theatre.

He is one of them which is why he passed Ian Botham as England’s leading wicket taker against Australia.

Here a cricketer was born to play Ashes cricket for the sense of opportunity it offers.

As a captain, you know that even if it’s not this guy’s day, he’ll be there for you and he’ll be there for you the next day. So it has been with Broad from the first ball of his first Test 16 years ago and will be so until the last ball of the last time he left the field as an England player.

But the other thing about him, without being rude about fast bowlers, is that he’s very smart.

Every time I’ve interviewed him, the way he thinks about how he’s going to get people out has been fascinating.

For example, we talked about several cricketers on the eve of this series and he told me that when bowling to Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith he would go a little wider on the crease and look to hit that ‘fifth punch’, and flip it away. . How does he get Labuschagne out in that first game? Exactly like that.

In fact, whenever I’ve interviewed him about his spells, I’ve learned so much about the art of bowling.

Broad also overtook England all-rounder Ian Botham as the top wicket-taker against Australia

Only Jimmy Anderson (left) has more wickets for England and is also the only fast bowler in history with a higher tally

He wasn’t bowling well across the wicket to left-handers a few years ago, so he spoke to then England bowling coach Ottis Gibson and they worked together to squeeze the ball out.

He is constantly trying to evolve and get better, and that’s because he has a great mind.

You talk about Australia’s Smith as a problem solver with the bat, I see the same with Broad with the ball. He also sees everything as a challenge. They are both cricket fanatics.

Broad knows all his stats. He’ll know what he’s getting left-handers for, right-handers, different conditions.

But his mindset has changed over the years. Back in the day, one of the first things he said when he left the field was the number of runs he had gone for.

Under the Ben Stokes regime, the first thing he talks about is how many wickets he has.

Sometimes captains had to convince him to bowl fuller, other times captains misused the ball as an enforcer and hit the ball halfway down the pitch, which I thought was ridiculous for such a highly skilled bowler.

You wouldn’t ask Anderson to show up and bowl bouncers all the time, so why ask him?

To me, Broad is in a rare fast bowling category as someone who ticks every box.

I was very vocal when he and Anderson weren’t picked for the West Indies tour last year.

That was hugely disrespectful to two of our all-time great bowlers, and no way to treat players of that stature. Not just for their stats.

England’s opening grand bowlers were omitted from a tour of the West Indies in early 2022

You forget the physical side of bowling. Passing is mental and you have to go through the ups and downs and form and bad luck and bad decisions but for Broad and bowlers like him it’s about getting out of bed on mornings like today, putting those boots back on and coming back for that last spell.

In fact, I saw him and Stokes running at each other after tea on the first day and it was like two old men running at each other. They were so stiff. They couldn’t move. It took them about five minutes to get together to chat. That’s Test Cricket’s physical exertion for you.

Fast bowling is hard work. It’s not just the 600 victims. You forget all the fitness and technical work Broad has been doing behind the scenes – keeping his body robust, working on his wrist position, retraining to swing the ball again.

And it’s all those things that great players do behind the scenes that make them so good. The constant desire to improve, to identify areas that are missing and raise the bar to enable the very best to reach the heights Broad did on Wednesday.