Stuart Broad might be the man Australians love to hate, but it’s time to recognise his greatness

The game of cricket needs characters and Stuart Broad is one of the greatest ever in Ashes history – and it’s time Aussie cricket fans acknowledged that, writes Ben Horne.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 19: The LED Screen acknowledges the 600th Test Career Wicket of Stuart Broad of England during Day One of the LV= Insurance Ashes 4th Test Match between England and Australia at Emirates Old Trafford on July 19, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Put your claws away Australia, it’s time to salute Stuart Broad as an Ashes legend.

What a player he is.

If Broad was an Australian he would be one of the most popular sportsmen in the country.

Articulate, clever, outspoken, pot-stirrer, long-lasting, courageous – he’s got it all.

Australia might have hated Broad for refusing to walk when he nicked the cover off one to first slip in the 2013 Ashes, and then again when he had the hide to condemn us for breaching the spirit of cricket at Lord’s with the Jonny Bairstow dismissal.

But Broad’s delightfully contrary nature makes him even more absorbing.

Is it time for Australia to salute Stuart Broad?

The game needs characters and Broad is one of the greatest ever in Ashes history.

And he has the record to match.

For a bowler to play 166 Tests and still be going at 37 years of age is outrageous.

To reach 600 Test wickets in this Old Trafford Test (that’s more than Glenn McGrath), shows Broad deserves to be considered amongst the best of the best.

Warne also claimed his 600th wicket in Manchester, and Broad is not out of his depth in that two-man club.

The ultimate #Ashes nemesis. Well bowled, Stuart Broad! pic.twitter.com/uSsYv1A7Eu

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 20, 2023

Broad now has 149 Ashes wickets alone, that’s more than Ian Botham took against Australia, and only McGrath and Warne have more dominant records in 140 years of cricket’s greatest rivalry.

We tried to consign Broad to clown status by labelling him a cheat and banning him from newspaper pages, but rather than cracking under the scrutiny – he relished in the attention and notoriety.

He was filthy after the first Ashes Test this series when Australian media anointed teammate Ollie Robinson as the new Enemy No.1.

Stuart Broad captured his 600th Test career wicket during the fourth Ashes Test Match at Old Trafford. Picture: Getty Images

You don’t have to delve too deep to understand why Broad gets under our skin when he freely admits his boyhood idols who he aspired to emulate were … Australian.

“I grew up completely obsessed watching Ashes cricket and I suppose that’s why some of my heroes are Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, some of the great Aussie team,” Broad told a post-play news conference on Wednesday after taking his 600th Test wicket.

“As a kid you are influenced by winning sides. It also built up my steeliness to want to be part of England teams that could win the Ashes after going through a whole childhood without us lifting them.

“I probably grew up with a bit more of an Australian mindset rather than a sort of England mindset of the (19) 90s.”