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What went through Broad’s mind during England collapse
Andrew Slevison • November 24th, 2025 11:09 am
Stuart Broad unexpectedly became a meme when his reaction to an England wicket was plastered on social media.
The former England quick says he simply needed 20 seconds to compose himself when Joe Root chopped on in the second innings which had the visitors 5/76 against Australia in Perth.
Root’s wicket was the third in quick succession as the first Test started crumbling before England’s eyes.
Broad just needed a mental breather as he sat next to Matthew Hayden and Alison Mitchell in the Channel 7 commentary box.
He explained what was going through this mind as things went from bad to worse for the Poms.
“It was when Joe Root inside edged onto his stumps,” Broad said on SEN Cricket’s The Day After show.
“Obviously the whole crowd went up and I was sat next to Matthew Hayden. I just needed 20 seconds to close my eyes and hope it wasn’t true, hope it wasn’t happening.
“That’s what Ashes and Test match cricket does to us, doesn’t it. It draws every emotion out of us.
“It was just such an honest feeling of ‘please don’t let this be true, don’t let this happen’. I think every England fan felt how I felt in that moment because we could see the game slipping away from us right in front of our eyes.”
Speaking on Sunday afternoon, Broad could not quite get his head around the first Test in Perth which England seemingly threw away.
He tried to make sense of what Travis Head had just done in smashing 123 off 83 deliveries to give the Aussies a stirring eight-wicket win.
“I still feel like it hasn’t settled in properly. It was such a breathless afternoon of what Australia produced,” Broad added.
“And with England, it’s one of those worst sayings in sport - let’s find the positives that we can take out of it. England at lunch were 100 ahead and one down. They haven’t been in that situation in Australia for years where they were arguably favourites at that point in time.
“As an England fan, as an England player, certainly they need to take their mindset back to that (how they got into that position).
“Australia and Australians have the most competitive, never-say-die attitude that you’ll see in the world. If you just let them open the door slightly they will hammer it down. That’s exactly what they did with a great amount of skill.
“My overriding feeling at the moment is I had so much hope at lunch time (on Saturday) that just got whipped away from me and England, that I feel a bit sad about that.
“It’s really a missed opportunity that England got themselves sin such a strong position.”
The travelling Poms will be intent on bouncing back when the second Test begins on December 4 in Brisbane. Listen to every ball live on SEN – your home of cricket.
