Stuart Broad: England’s master match-winner

Self-proclaimed Test “addict” Stuart Broad was able to quit on his own terms, announcing on Saturday he would retire following the Ashes finale at The Oval. Broad, 37, has never been shy of going his own way in a 167-match career that has yielded 602 Test wickets so far -- the fifth-highest tally by any bowler.

Self-proclaimed Test “addict” Stuart Broad was able to quit on his own terms, announcing on Saturday he would retire following the Ashes finale at The Oval.

After stumps on the third day of a Test in which England are pressing for a series-levelling win against their arch-rivals might seem an odd time to make such a statement.

But Broad, 37, has never been shy of going his own way in a 167-match career that has yielded 602 Test wickets so far -- the fifth-highest tally by any bowler.

Longstanding England new-ball colleague James Anderson (690) is the only paceman higher than him on the all-time list.

It is all a far cry from a setback early in his international career when Broad was hit for six sixes in an over by India’s Yuvraj Singh during the 2007 World Twenty20 in South Africa.

Broad, who made his name at English county Leicestershire before joining Midlands rivals Nottinghamshire, recovered and became renowned for an ability to turn a game with match-winning bursts -- he has taken five or more wickets 20 times in a Test innings.

He took an astounding 8-15 on his Trent Bridge home ground in Nottingham when, leading the attack in the absence of the injured Anderson, he sparked an Australia collapse to 60 all out during England’s 2015 Ashes triumph.