England quick Stuart Broad has new targets after destroying David Warner in 2019

After his cheeky call that the last Ashes were “void”, an English villain has turned his attention to a couple of Australian stars.

Stuart Broad of Nottinghamshire during a County Championship Division 1 match against Essex at Trent Bridge on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Veteran English quick Stuart Broad has revealed he’s zoned in his Ashes research on Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in an attempt to bring them down as he did so successfully with David Warner in 2019.

Broad declared the build-up to this year’s series in England is “a bit like a boxing match”, having already tried to wipe Australia’s 4-0 result the last time the two team’s met as a “void series”, a claim met with derision by the Aussies.

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“I‘m loving the circus, the to and fro between the players,” Broad told reporters in England.

”It’s a bit like a boxing match building up to Edgbaston.”

Aside from the byplay, however, Broad knows the important role with the ball he’s set to play as his new ball partner Jimmy Anderson battles a groin issue and Jofra Archer has already been ruled out of the entire series.

Stuart Broad loves the mind games. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Broad destroyed Warner in 2019 when the Aussie opener managed just 95 runs for the series. Warner’s lean trot was the result of deep research and aided by wickets the Englishman said helped his cause.

But this time Broad has put his effort into taking down Labuschagne and Smith, the No.1 and No.3 ranked Test batters in the world respectively, who average 45.86 and 59.68 against England.

Smith also pummelled a monstrous 774 runs at an average of 110.54 in 2019 to help Australia to a 2-2 series draw.

“I’d be wrong if I’d not researched what I want to do against different players because that was one of my greatest strengths against David Warner,” Broad said.

“I‘ve done those numbers on Smudge (Smith) and Labuschagne, and my numbers are high against them in recent series, so I need to do something different.

“If my average is higher against Smith and Labuschagne, it means they’re not getting out lbw a huge amount, so I’ve got to bring the outside edge in.

Broad had David Warner’s measure. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“There might be some other things I do that are a bit outside the box that I might try on the odd occasion, but we’ll wait and see what pitches I get.”

Broad openly admitted local conditions played into his hands in 2019 when he dismissed Warner in seven of his 10 innings for the series.

“The 2019 wickets were tired from the World Cup, so they were dry, so the new ball seamed off the dryness,” he said.

“Whereas now we’re playing in June and July, you expect the pitches not to have that tiredness to them.”

Knowing also that it could potentially be Broad’s final Ashes series at home, the 36-year-old, who will turn 37 during the series, is relishing every moment.

“I think it feels like the biggest build-up I can remember for an Ashes series,” he said.

“I mean ’05 was arguably one of the most famous Ashes series. I was only just starting my professional journey then, but this feels on a par with that type of build-up.”