12 years after being labelled public enemy number one for the 2013/14 Ashes series, the Australian media have officially softened on Stuart Broad.
The England great, whose 153 Ashes wickets from 40 matches sits behind only Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, has been signed to Channel Seven’s commentary team for the 2025/26 series, having shifted seamlessly into calling the game after announcing his retirement at the end of the dramatic 2023 Ashes.
Broad has since worked for UK broadcaster Sky Sports, including for the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between England and India, and in a statement released to Seven, said he was looking forward to covering ‘one of the most exciting Ashes series for a long time’, and working alongside Australian greats such as Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden.
“Incredible commentary line-up to be a part of, brilliant cricket brains … I have worked with Ricky quite a bit and worked with ‘Haydos’ on the World Test Championship Final,” Broad told 7 News.
“I think both teams are matched up quite nicely. Obviously, Australia have had the better of England for a long time, over in Australia, but England are coming with a pretty strong team.
“I’m really excited to give my views on how I think the series will go, and call it live.”
Broad has been a maligned figure in Australia since controversially not walking after edging Ashton Agar to slip at a crucial stage of the first Test in the 2013 Ashes series; on 37 at the time, he’d finish with 65 as England went on to win by 14 runs.
The incident sparked a wave of fury down under, with Brisbane’s Courier-Mail infamously referring to Broad only as a ’27-year old medium-pace bowler’ in their reporting of the first Ashes Test of the 2013/14 summer, also describing him as a ‘smug Pommie cheat’.
Stuart Broad will be part of Channel 7’s commentary team for the Ashes. (Photo by Gareth Copley – ECB/ECB via Getty Images)
In more recent times, Broad was at the centre of the Jonny Bairstow stumping controversy that lit up the 2023 Ashes; coming to the crease after Bairstow was dismissed, he told wicketkeeper Alex Carey it would be ‘all you’ll ever be remembered for’, while repeatedly winding up the Australians over ‘the worst thing I’ve ever seen in cricket’.
However, Broad said his days of antagonising Australians are behind him.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve loved winding them [Australians] up – it seems to come quite naturally,” Broad told 7 News.
“But no, I will be a neutral over there. Just give my views on what I see.
“I’ve always had a huge amount of respect for the Australian fans. I love playing there. I love how much they enjoy their cricket and want their team to win.”
Broad’s Sky Sports colleagues, though, have concerns about the reception the 39-year old will receive in Australia over the summer, with Michael Atherton jokingly saying his commentary appointment has ‘gone down like a bucket of sick’.
“Just a reminder of how popular you are down there, the Brisbane Courier-Mail couldn’t bring themselves to put a photo of you on the front page, and then called you a ‘smug Pommie cheat’. Are you looking forward to going down to Australia this winter?” Atherton laughed.
Broad replied: “I obviously agree with the ‘Pommie’ and the ‘cheat’ bit, but when did I become smug?”
