In the first hour of play on Day 2 of the Ashes 2023 opener, Stuart Broad landed two quick blows to Australia when he sent back opener David Warner and No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne with his successive deliveries.
Prior to his twin strikes, Australia were off to a steady start in reply to England’s 393/8 declared. It did leave the tourists a bit shaken and England seemed to have taken control of he contest when Ben Stokes trapped Steve Smith LBW later.
Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Broad cheekily mentioned a couple of policemen slowing down the game during. Labuschagne complained of movement near the sightscreen right after walking in to bat following Warner’s dismissal and took guard once that was taken care of.
And Broad got the first delivery to Labuschagne swing after pitching with the Australian chasing after it to be caught behind for a golden duck.
“As for the ball that got Labuschagne, that’s the one I am looking to bowl him by design,” Broad wrote. “A couple of policemen did me a favour when they got in Marnus’ eyeliner and slowed things down a bit, allowing me to focus and with that one I was able to follow through with the plan and that’s always a really nice feeling.”
“Wobble seam is my favourite delivery, and I always think nipping back onto the stumps is best but trying to beat players on the inside edge on slower pitches can be really tough,” he added.
Broad said bowling on slow pitches during the county championship helped him get prepared for what is on offer at Edgbaston .
“I played three out of my four County Championship games for Nottinghamshire this season on really slow pitches, so I wanted to bring the outside edge into things more and that’s why I worked on it with Kevin Shine, our bowling coach, earlier this year,” he wrote.
The two wickets left the capacity crowd roaring at the venue and Broad thanked them for helping him create the energy during the first hour of play.
“The energy I created during that first hour with two wickets in as many balls came from the stands. Edgbaston is always a good crowd to connect with, and on those sort of surfaces you almost need all the help you can get as a bowler,” Broad wrote.
He continued, “I’m someone who lives off the noise, and the atmosphere having got David Warner out, was electric. When I was running in to bowl to Labuschagne, it was so loud. I wrote in my notebook pre-play to make sure I engaged the crowd, and I try to stay true to everything I write down.”
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