Veteran England bowler Stuart Broad says the last Ashes didn’t count because of restrictions

Australia smashed England 4-0 in the last Ashes, but a veteran quick has declared the series didn’t count for one major reason.

Veteran England quick Stuart Broad has lit the early fuse for a fiery Ashes, declaring Australia’s dominant 4-0 home victory two years ago was “void” because of the restrictive environment it was played in.

Ahead of this winter’s return clash in England, where Australia drew the 2019 series to retain the Ashes, Broad fired the first shot, claiming the time spent in quarantine bubbles made it hard for the England team to be at its best in the 2021-22 series.

Watch every match of the 2023 IPL LIVE & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

The Ashes starts in seven weeks with the first Test at Edgbaston and Broad, who will once again form part of the home team’s ageing bowling attack with 41-year-old Jimmy Anderson, said the last series wasn’t “real”.

“Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series,” Broad told England’s Daily Mail.

‘But in my mind I don’t class that as a real Ashes.

“The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game.

“Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the Covid restrictions.

“The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise. I‘ve written it off as a void series.”

James Anderson and Stuart Broad will again spearhead England’s attack. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Before the tourists even landed for that Australian series there were threats players would pull out if their families were not granted exemptions to enter Australia.

Wet weather then interrupted their lead-in games and then coach Chris Silverwood was also unhappy with his quarantine conditions after he was one of several support staff to test positive to Covid-19 during the Boxing Day Test.

There will be no restrictions in England this time, however, and Broad dared the Australians to take the home team on at their “BazBall revolution” of attacking cricket, having asked for flat, fast wickers to suit their cause.

“I think it would be great for us if Australia try to take us on at our own game,” Broad said.

“If we can get them playing in a slightly different style they could make mistakes and that would be brilliant for us.

Broad said the last Ashes was ‘void’. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

“Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja are all guys who like to bat time and accumulate, so if we can nibble away at them and just get them thinking, ‘Why are we not scoring quicker, why are we not moving the game forward?’

“We leave Jack Leach’s mid-on and mid-off in all the time and (Ben) Stokesey basically says, ‘You’re not having them back. Let them keep hitting you’.

“And he’s probably got more caught mid-offs now than LBWs, so it’s playing on minds. I’d love Smith to dance down the track and sky one to mid-off early doors. That would be classic.”