 "Stuart Broad's reaction during England's batting collapse went viral. Image: SkySports/X")
Former England pacer Stuart Broad was caught on camera closing his eyes in disbelief as his team kept losing wickets against Australia in the first Ashes Test in Perth. The collapse came after England had a 40-run lead following Australia being bowled out for just 132 in their first innings. England’s hopes of building on that lead ended in disaster as their second innings batting crumbled and they lost by 8 wickets.
Broad explains his viral reaction
Broad explained the moment in a Sky Cricket interview, saying he was praying that the collapse was just a bad dream. The former pacer, however, admitted that it is a lot easier for him to lose from the commentary box than on the field. Broad said this is what Test cricket does, as it brings out all emotions. He added that his reaction came naturally after Joe Root was dismissed, and he was praying that it wasn’t actually happening.
“It’s what Test cricket does. It sort of brings all your emotions out and it was that period of commentary where we lost 4 in the blink of an eye. And when Rooty chopped on, it was just a natural reaction for me to close my eyes and just pray that it wasn’t actually happening. If I close them, maybe it wasn’t actually happening. Can we just soak up a little bit of pressure somehow?” Broad said.
He added that the experience of playing in Australia makes such moments even more intense. “I have been there loads of time before in Australia, we all would have been where they just opened that door slightly and then when you talk about you are not just playing against the Australian cricket team, you are playing against Australia, it’s that moment where that comes in because suddenly the crowd was erupting, everyone celebrating with their mates in the crowd and you just see Jamie Smith walking out to bat and you think, you have never been in this situation like this before. You have never felt what’s going on. And credit to Australia, they were absolutely superb. But England just opened that door,” he added.
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View AllThe win gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the Ashes series and left England facing intense scrutiny from critics back home. England were in a strong position at the end of Day 1, leading by 40 runs. Ben Stokes gave them the advantage with a quick five-wicket haul, cancelling out Mitchell Starc’s earlier efforts.
However, England’s Bazball-style batting in the second innings backfired, costing them the match despite being in a winning position. They will now look to bounce back in the second Test in Brisbane, starting December 4.