June 20th 2023.
Stuart Broad had an impressive start to the Ashes series, sending both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne packing late on day four of the first Test at Edgbaston. His brilliant bowling helped England boost their chances of winning the match, as Australia were chasing a daunting fourth-innings target of 281.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain revealed that Broad had predicted how he was going to dismiss Smith a week before the Test. He said on Sky Sports: “It’s brilliant bowling from Stuart Broad, it really is.”
Hussain continued to explain that Smith has a trigger that takes him outside off stump, giving Broad the opportunity to capitalize on this. He said: “He tries to make the adjustment to play it straight but he still nicks it. But the brilliance comes from the other end, the brilliance comes from Broad.”
Hussain further explained that Broad actually texted him a week ago, saying he would be going wider on the crease to bowl fourth stump to Steve Smith. It was then that Smith started to struggle with the deliveries that were wider of the crease. Hussain said: “We know Smith knows his game and knows his angles, so you have to change it at the other end. Cricket is all about angles. Smith is like a machine, he’s a problem solver. But at the other end Broad was messing with that machine by creating a different angle and in two deliveries he got him in a tangle.”
At the conclusion of the first Test, England and Australia travel to London for the second match at Lord’s on June 28th. It will be interesting to see how Broad’s plans for Smith will play out over the course of the Test series.
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