Alternative Headline: Stuart Broad Admits Steve Smith’s Ashes Dominance Poses Existential Threat to England’s Hopes
LONDON, U.K.:Former England pace bowler Stuart Broad has openly conceded that, despite dismissing him more than any other bowler, he still has no definitive strategy for taking the wicket of Australian batter Steve Smith. Broad’s admission underscores the daunting challenge Smith presents to the England team ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, which the bowler fears could be “a long series” if Smith is not removed early.
The 36-year-old Smith is widely regarded as one of the modern era’s premier batters, boasting a career Test average of 56.02, which balloons to 56.01 in Ashes cricket with 12 centuries.
Speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, Broad, who played alongside England during the batter’s dominant run, recounted his sheer difficulty in dislodging the right-hander during previous contests. Smith was the leading run-scorer in both the 2017-18 and 2019 Ashes series, racking up 687 and 774 runs, respectively.
“I remember he got this big two hundred [239 in Perth in 2017] and I did not miss the middle of his bat for three days,” Broad revealed. “Every ball I tried to bowl just hit the middle of his bat. He’s got that mindset of ‘OK, this pitch suits me, and I’m not getting out’.”
Despite the frustration, Broad holds the record for dismissing Smith more times than any other Test bowler, doing so 11 times. However, this success has not translated into a clear tactical blueprint.
“Obviously [Smith’s] technique’s changed throughout, but I still can’t sit here and go ‘well this is how you get him out’,” Broad confessed. “That’s an unbelievable strength of his. He’s incredibly difficult to bowl at. Sometimes you don’t feel like you’ve bowled a bad ball and it still goes for four.”
Smith’s dominance is further highlighted by his career statistics: his average climbs to 59.70 when batting on home soil, and his 36 Test centuries are surpassed only by the legendary Ricky Ponting (41) among Australians. For England to secure the urn, finding an answer to the world-class batter remains their biggest, and most elusive, problem.
