NEWS
Follow UsStuart Broad made history on Saturday at the Oval when he claimed South Africa's Anrich Nortje as his 563rd Test scalp in the third and final Test. The wicket took Broad joint-second among Test fast bowlers alongside Australian legend Glenn McGrath.
Despite joining the illustrious list, Broad felt that he doesn't belong to be mentioned alongside his idol McGrath who did it in 124 innings compared to his 159.
"He's (McGrath) a hero of mine. I feel like I don't really deserve to be in that sort of category, to be honest, and obviously he's played a lot less games," Broad told Sky Sports after the third day of the Test.
Only teammate James Anderson is ahead of Broad in that list, though by a big margin, on 665 Test wickets.
"He (McGrath) was great, one of the greatest bowlers of all time in my opinion. but it feels very special to hopefully get one more and join my mate Jimmy as a one-two in that list of seamers," Broad added.
South African batters looked in a rush after the first day of the Test was washed out by rain, while the Queen's death forced ECB to scrap the second day's play. Broad's 4-41 was complemented by Ollie Robinson 5-49 as England skittled out South Africa 118 in their first innings.
"Earlier this morning it was too bowler-friendly, but you know I'd never really say that. But it seamed a lot when I first came on as a first-change bowler. I was surprised, it was nipping three or four balls an over. We were happy to bowl South Africa out for a cheap score, but we also knew that we had some work to do," Broad said.
Although England managed take a lead of 36 runs, a late burst of wickets from Marco Jansen (4-34) and Kagiso Rabada (2-78) left England reeling at 154/7 at stumps. Broad felt the decision to bat second was the best as it is suits England's style of play.
"We're very comfortable chasing a score, to be honest. Our mindset is we need to play in a way that gives us the chance to take 20 wickets, and if bowling first we get 20 wickets, we'll win the game," he said.
"If we bowl again tomorrow and put South Africa under pressure, we could be could be batting on a day-three Oval pitch, which you'd argue could be the best time to bat," Broad added.
Sporting events were halted across the UK as part of national mourning, including this week's Premier League football matches being postponed. Broad felt that ECB's decision to continue with the match allowed them to pay their respects to the Queen.
"I must admit, when I saw the Premier League were postponing their fixtures for the weekend. I thought, oh, that might play a role in in our game. But I was really pleased when I heard the news that we were continuing, and then you get your mind on making sure you put in the performance to entertain the public," Broad said.
"We knew it was only going to be a three-day game. So we had to play some entertaining stuff. And I think everyone will leave pretty happy tonight," he added.
