England’s veteran speedster Stuart Broad has been one of the finest bowlers of modern-day cricket. From once being hit for six sixes in an over to become the second-highest wicket-taker for his nation, the journey of Broad is phenomenal.
The Nottingham-born cricketer has so far taken 485 wickets in the red-ball format which is seventh-most by any bowler in the history of Test cricket. Among seamers, Broad is the fourth bowler to grab that many scalps.
The 33-year-old has been a valuable asset for England cricket but in a surrounding of so many great bowlers, who does Broad rate as the best?
Recently, Broad participated in a SkySports podcast hosted by Rob Key alongside legendary West Indian Michael Holding and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock, where they discussed greatest-ever seamers.
The English pacer picked the Phalaborwa Express, Dale Steyn, as the best paceman of his generation. Broad expressed that Steyn’s action, the swing, and everything else was just perfect. He further stated that if anybody wants to be a bowler, then one would want to have the kind of skills Steyn had.
“He is the bowler of my generation. The action, the pace, the way he can swing it, the skill. If you wanted to be a bowler, you’d want that sort of ability,” Broad told in the podcast.
Apart from Broad, the celebutante of fast bowling, Holding also picked Steyn as the best pacer of modern-cricket. Holding named four best bowlers in the history of cricket. Before Steyn, the ‘Whispering Death’ picked fellow Caribbean heroes Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts, along with greatest Australian bowler Dennis Lillee as the best bowlers the game has ever seen.
“You can’t leave Dale Steyn out of the picture. He has been one of the great fast bowlers in an era. You’d pay to watch him,” said Holding about Steyn.
Esteemed Proteas bowler Pollock too heaped praises for Steyn. He said that Steyn’s ability to swing the ball with extreme pace as well as the skill of reverse was terrific. Pollock termed Steyn as a special bowler and further stated that his (Steyn’s) stats back what people say about him.
“l cannot have enough respect for Steyn. His ability to shape the ball upfront at high speed and then come back later and reverse it” said Pollock.
“He cranked it up on flat wickets and had such good action and variations. He is something special, and his stats back it up,” the 46-year-old added.
