Broad on Broad

Great excitement in the Broad household this week as my son Stuart was selected to play for England in the ODI series against Pakistan.

There has been much speculation and newspaper talk about his prospects for some time but for it to have actually happened now is unbelievable and gives us a great sense of joy and happiness.


Stuart was playing at a rainy Wantage Road ground in Northampton when the squad was announced. He'd had a call from the chairman of selectors a couple of hours prior to the press announcement but he had to keep that quiet, except for close family. I'm sure the assembled media must have twigged as my wife and I and grand parents turned up at the ground well before the announcement time. It was great to be there to see the size of his smile!

Then on Friday his mother and I, along with Stuart were invited to London to attend the Cricket Writers Club Dinner. Stuart was presented with the 'CWC Young Player of the Year' award. This award goes back some 50 years and is a very prestigious award as so many great players have
won the prize. A few of those greats were there that night and it was great to seen David Gower present the silver inkwell trophy to Stuart. David conducted a little interview with him, although the content of the interview left something to be desired as he was mostly taking the mickey out of me!!!

Monday, the International Twenty20 match couldn't come soon enough and sure enough Stuart was selected to play. All the family were in Bristol - one of my old stomping grounds - to watch. England didn't do terribly well with the bat only mustering 144 but they had a chance after Stuart's 2nd over in which he got the wickets of Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan in consecutive balls. Then in came Shahid Afridi! He is an unpredictable batsman but his talents are well suited to the Twenty20 format, sure enough in only a few swift strikes he had won the game for Pakistan. One shot off Stuart ended up out of the ground going over the long boundary, it was an amazing hit!

The next stop was Cardiff for Stuart's first official ODI.
All England players are now numbered and Stuart is the 197th player to have played One-day cricket for England. They have used a lot of players in the last 20 years (I was number 91) and I hope he remains in the side for some time to come. It was a cold and rather damp day for his first match and again England didn't bat particularly well but managed to scrape past 200 thanks to Ian Bell who made 88. A last wicket partnership between Darren Gough and Stuart put on 29 which was great to see. I have never been so nervous watching a game of cricket! I was playing every shot for him, trying to get him off the mark and hoping that every ball didn't get him out. In the end he made 8 not out which was very pleasing…… but I've got to learn to relax!!!

Then came the rain and I thought it was set in for the night so I said my goodbyes and set off home to Nottingham. 45 minutes into the journey they restarted the match but it only lasted 7 overs as the heavens opened again. Pakistan ended 46-1 and Stuart got Shoaib Malik out LBW again. A draw was not the result we wanted but under the circumstances England must have been very happy as they haven't won an ODI in 8 matches!