England's Stuart Broad completes 600 wickets in Test cricket
Jul 19, 2023
Manchester [UK], July 19 : Veteran pacer Stuart Broad completed his 600 wickets in Test cricket on Wednesday, becoming the only second bowler after James Anderson to reach the milestone.
Broad reached this milestone during his side's fourth Ashes series Test against Australia at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Prior to the match, Broad needed just two wickets to reach the milestone. He took the wicket of Usman Khawaja to reach his 599th wicket and started Australia's initial struggles in the match.
With the skipper needing some more wickets after Australia seemed to have recovered well from some quick wickets, Broad dismissed a dangerous Travis Head for 48 off 65 balls to reach 600 wickets in the longer format.
In 166 Tests, Broad now has taken 600 wickets at an average of 27.59 and has the best figures of 8/15. He has 28 four-wicket hauls, 20 five-wicket hauls, and three ten-wicket hauls in the longest format.
Broad, however, still has a long way to go to outdo Anderson, who has 688 wickets in 182 wickets at an average of 26.25, with best figures of 7/42. He has 32 four-wicket hauls, 32 five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket hauls in Tests.
Broad is the fifth-most successful bowler in the history of Test cricket. Above him are legends like Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralidaran (800 wickets), Australia's late spin great Shane Warne (708 wickets), James Anderson (688 wickets) and Indian spin great Anil Kumble (619 wickets). He is the second most successful pacer of all time in Tests, after Anderson.
England, meanwhile, opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Australia was reduced to 69/2 after the dismissals of Khawaja (3) and David Warner (32).
But a fighting 51 from Marnus Labuschagne and 41 Steve Smith, and their 51-run stand for the third wicket helped Australia gain some stability.
Later, Head (48) and Mitchell Marsh (33*) helped the Aussies cross the 200-run mark.
