Broad smiles as England crushes woeful West Indies

STUART Broad revelled in surpassing his hero Ian Botham after moving to second on the list of England’s all-time leading Test wicket-takers as his side continued its build up to the Ashes with a crushing win over West Indies.

Broad went above Botham after collecting his 384th scalp by bowling Shane Dowrich to help the host beat West Indies at Edgbaston by an innings and 209 runs inside three days of the inaugural day-night Test in England.

Only his long-term opening bowling partner James Anderson — with 492 Test victims — looks down on Broad on the all-time list.

The 31-year-old Broad paid tribute to Botham, telling Sky Sports Cricket: “He’s obviously been a hero of mine, someone who gave me my Test cap back in 2007 and someone who inspired me to play cricket for England with his performances.

“It’s very special to be up there in the ranks with him.”

England’s win sees it take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series. The loss was the sixth heaviest for West Indies in their once-proud Test history, with the tourists losing 19 wickets on the final day.

Having taken tea with four down in their second innings and already resigned to losing the Test, Broad chose his moment to move from support act to main man. Broad claimed two wickets in two balls, first trapping Roston Chase lbw and then having captain Jason Holder caught at slip by Alastair Cook, to equal Botham’s mark, only to be thwarted in his bid to be the first man to take three Test hat- tricks by Kemar Roach’s straight bat.