Stuart Broad

Stuart Christopher John Broad (born 24 June 1986 in Nottingham, England) is an English cricketer who plays for Leicestershire County Cricket Club and has made nine appearances for the England national cricket team. He is the son of former England cricketer and ICC match referee Chris Broad. In August 2006 he was voted the Cricket Writer's Club Young Cricketer of the Year.

Early life

Although Broad has started making waves as a fast bowler, he originally started his career following in the footsteps of his father, as an opening batsman. It wasn't until he was 17 and had a growth spurt that he started to consider being a genuinely quick bowler. It has recently been revealed that Broad, already 6 foot 4, could be on course to reach 6 foot 9.

Broad was a pupil at Oakham School and as a youngster was awarded with the Leicestershire Young Cricketers Batsman Award.

Stuart Broad learned most of his adult cricket at Melton Mowbray club Egerton Park. He played for the club from the ages of 9-19 where in his final 2 seasons he opened the batting with fellow Leicestershire player Matthew Boyce and spearheaded the attack. Broad maintained the Club's tradition of providing International seam bowlers as Egerton Park were the first club of former Warwickshire, Derbyshire and England seamer Tim Munton.

Leicestershire career

Broad played his first game for Leicestershire 2nd XI in 2004 just before his 18th birthday and impressed enough to be given a full contract for the following season. Broad continued to impress Director of Cricket James Whitaker and made his first class debut early in the 2005 season against Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence. He returned credible figures of 1/40 from 15 overs. His maiden first class wicket was that of Nick Lamb.

Stuart followed this appearance with his first County Championship appearance against Somerset at the familiar location of Oakham. Broad impressed yet again when, against a batting line up which included Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya, he finished with figures of two for 61 in a game ruined by the rain. By the end of the season Broad had become a regular fixture in Leicestershire's first-class side, playing their last four Championship fixtures and getting his one-day debut in the very final National League fixture of the season, taking two for 40 against Kent Spitfires.

The 2006 season has been a kind one for Broad. He took his first 5 wicket haul against championship favourites Surrey and scored his first championship 50 against Derbyshire. His most eye catching performances have been in the Twenty20 Cup, where his economy of 4.50 was the second-best of the season of bowlers with more than 15 overs bowled. In the County Championship Broad played twelve of Leicestershire's 13 matches until called up for England, and his 44 wickets at an average of 31.38 meant he led his county both in terms of wickets and bowling average.

In late 2007 Leicestershire announced that contract talks with Broad were ongoing. It is however widely expected that'll leave the county at the end of this current season.

England career

Broad played for the England Under-19 squad in 2005, facing the Sri Lankan U-19 squad, and took five for 17 in the first test. He was named in the ECB National Academy squad for winter 2005-06. He was then called up to the England 'A' squad touring the West Indies, as a replacement for James Anderson who had been drafted into the Test side touring India. In April 2006, Broad was again called up to the England A squad, facing the touring Sri Lankan team.

Broad has also been included in the ECB's 25 man development squad for the 2006 season. David Graveney the chairman of selectors said that "The squad essentially enables the England Head Coach (Duncan Fletcher) working with his support staff and the National Academy staff to monitor more closely the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game."

On 23 August 2006, Broad was included in the England one-day squad for the One-day Internationals against Pakistan, and a couple of days later he was named Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club. On 28 August 2006, Broad made his first England appearance, in the Twenty20 International against Pakistan. Broad bowled four overs for 35 runs, and took two wickets in two balls, Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan, and narrowly missed out on a hat-trick, after a lofted shot from Shahid Afridi fell just short of Kevin Pietersen.

On 30 August, he made his One-day International debut, taking a wicket in his first over, as well as being involved in a last-wicket partnership of 29 with Darren Gough. In the 3rd ODI on 5 September 2006, Broad once again found himself on a hat-trick with the wickets of Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal. He bowled 10 overs and ended with figures of 3-57 with one maiden.

Broad was left out of the squad for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2006-07 Commonwealth Bank Series. However, he was called up for the finals in the latter following injuries to Jon Lewis and Chris Tremlett. He was also called into England's squad as a replacement part way through the 2007 World Cup. He finished the tournament by scoring the winning runs in England's final match against the West Indies. Broad also featured in the ODI squad at the end of the West Indies tour of England in summer 2007, taking 3/20 in the first match to lead England to a 1:0 lead in the ODI series.

On 15th July, 2007 Broad was included in the England test squad of 13 after Steve Harmison underwent a hernia operation. However, Chris Tremlett made his England debut instead, and Broad has not yet played a test match for England.

Achievements and honours

• Cricket Writer's Club Young Cricketer of the Year 2006

External links

• Cricket Online Profile
• Cricinfo Profile