‘Broad is the ultimate Ashes warrior,’ says Australia's former captain Ricky Ponting
Australian legend Ricky Ponting believes that English pacer Stuart Broad, who announced his retirement after the ongoing fifth Ashes Test, is the 'ultimate Ashes warrior'.
Broad called an end to his 17-year-old career at the end of Day 3 of the final Ashes Test at The Oval on Saturday.
Australian openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner reached their respective half-centuries as Australia looked absolutely solid at the end of a rain-interrupted second session during day four of the match, inching towards a 150-run opening partnership.
After the match, Ponting told Sky Sports, "I am a believer in judging players on longevity and maintaining such high standards at the absolute highest level. He has played 25 consecutive Ashes Tests at home, which is unbelievable in itself."
"We talk about Ben Stokes being the ultimate warrior but Broad is the ultimate Ashes warrior. All of his best cricket has been played in Ashes series," he added.
"People's names and reputations are forged in what they are able to achieve in Ashes series and he can be mightily proud of what he has achieved. He will be remembered for how good he was in his last series. It is about the perfect time to go," the former Australian captain said.
Broad has taken 602 wickets in 167 Test matches he has played. He has also scored 3656 runs at an average of 18 with 1 century and 13 fifties in Test cricket.
In ODIs, Broad has featured in 121 games taking 178 scalps. His best bowling effort in the 50-over format to date is 5/23 while in T20Is, he has 65 wickets in 56 matches, with his best being 4/24.
‘He is the complete article’: Nasser Hussain on Stuart Broad
England's former captain Nasser Hussain praised Broad and said that he is a "complete article" with fitness, hunger, competitiveness, skill and brightness.
"A great cricketer deserves to go out at the top. It's not just what he deserves. I think the crowd here over the next couple of days would want to give him a send-off. What I know about Broad is that he won't let that emotion get in the way of performance. What has been his benchmark throughout his career is wanting to win games. I truly believe that," he added.
"He is also a very bright bowler. He will talk about seam positions and setting up batters. The way he thinks about getting wickets [is excellent]. He is the complete article - fitness, hunger, competitiveness, skill, brightness," he said.
Hussain also mentioned the contribution of Broad and Jimmy Anderson have in English cricket and how legendary their dual was.
"He has loved bowling with Anderson and learnt from him but he has had to live in Jimmy's shadow. When Jimmy has not been there and he has to be the leader of the attack, he does it. Jimmy has had a quiet Ashes series this summer and Stuart has upped his game. So, he has lived in Jimmy's shadow but when he has popped out of that shadow, he has shown what a true great he is," he said
