Broad’s resilience pays big dividends
(223)SBowring69-12(D) ..................... RWinston (10) D Shaw 8 9-12 (CD) ........ Nicola Currie (7) (7) J Butler 6 9-11 (CD5) ..................... Rossa Ryan (7) (125) D C Griffiths 8 9-7 (D5) ....... Fran Berry (18) D Brown 4 9-5 .............. T Eaves (7)SDixon59-2(CD5) ......................... KO’Neill (15) S Dixon 5 8-11 (D2) .............. L Morris (10) Mrs L Williamson 5 8-7 (C, D3) ...... A Mullen BETTING: 11-4 Captain Lars, 7-2 Red Stripes, 4 Foolaad, 7 Crosse Fire, Piazon, 10 Penny Dreadful, 12 Midnight Macchiato, 16 Brother Tiger.
9-1 Tracked leaders, effort over 2f out, led over 1f out, kept on, ridden out, won at Southwell 6f hcp 0-85 (4) fbs beating Tricky Dicky by 1 1/4l, 9 ran. 10-1 Prominent, hung left from 2f out, led inside final furlong, headed post, 2nd of 10, shd behind Pearl Acclaim at Southwell 5f hcp 0-75 (5) fbs. 7-1 Raced far side, held up, headway over 2f out, 2nd in group inside final furlong, no chance with winner or 2nd racing on near side, 3rd of 19, 6l behind Naggers at Thirsk 6f hcp 0-90 (3) sft in May. 13-2 Tracked leader, pushed along 2f out, ridden and no extra inside final furlong, 4th of 7, 1 1/2l behind Tilly Trotter at Southwell 5f hcp 0-85 (4) fbs. 6-1 Taken to post early, dwelt towards rear, pushed along 2f out, never a factor, 6th of 7, 4 1/2l behind Tilly Trotter at Southwell 5f hcp 0-85 (4) fbs. 11-1 Tracked leader and keen, ridden over 1f out, kept on towards finish, 4th of 7, 3 1/2l behind Rosina at Chelmsford City 5f hcp 0-80 (4) pol. 20-1 Raced wide tracked leaders, pushed along 3f out, weakened over 1f out, 9th of 11, 11l behind Hammer Gun at Southwell 7f hcp 0-80 (4) fbs. 25-1 Outpaced, always towards rear, last of 11, 17l behind Normal Equilibrium at Chester 5f hcp 0-80 (4) gd in Aug. to try to stave off a 5-0 whitewash.
Former Ashes-winning England captain Michael Vaughan was among those who have questioned the lynchpin seamer’s place of late.
“I’ve had one of those weeks where you get your tin hat on, duck down, and don’t see much,” said Broad, after taking his career wickets column to 397.
“I’ve been unaware of what’s written, what’s been said.
“You have to go to that place as a sportsman, find something within yourself, get support from people around you, and build yourself back up.
“You can get yourself in a dark place if you read everything.”
Broad will bear no grudges against Vaughan or anyone else paid to have a high-profile opinion - as he admits he may well be himself one day.
“Only two weeks ago, I was on holiday with him ... (but) I think people just do their jobs and have to be critical at times, and I deserved criticism after the Perth defeat for sure.
“I won’t hold any grudges or get disappointed if people slag me off, because in 15 years’ time I might be doing the same ... not six months!”
Cook too has had his critics of late, after a run of poor form at odds with his status as national record runscorer.
“In the changing room, the celebrations when he got that hundred were huge,” said Broad.
“That’s testament to the way he is. He went through so much stuff with his captaincy that I’m not sure a bit of stick about not getting runs is going to bother him too much.”
Both had to dig deep to prove their mettle - even if it has come too late to hang on to the urn.
“I think it shows a huge amount of character to be under that sort of scrutiny and pressure and come out and deliver any sort of performance - let alone a hundred, like Cookie has just done,” said Broad.
“I don’t think you play this amount of international sport without some sort of deep inner self-confidence that you can find when you’re very low.”