Humble Broad delighted with work on Warner
ENGLAND pace veteran Stuart Broad admits he never expected to have so much success against champion Australia batsman David Warner during the drawn Ashes series.
Warner suffered a horror series against the 33-year-old seamer, falling to him seven times, the last dismissal coming in the fifth Test at the Oval.
The dismal run was enough for Australia coach Justin Langer to admit that former vice-captain Warner had allowed the England strike bowler to “get into his head”.
Broad, however, was magnanimous in his own assessment of their enthralling duels.
“I had an added responsibility to try and get their big players out and that’s why I did a lot of planning on David Warner,” Broad said.
“I never dreamt that I would have the success against him that I’ve had but, of course, that is just in this series.
“If we put our numbers together over the course of our careers, with how much we have played against each other, I think they would be quite even.
“He has outdone me in many a series but this time, it went my way.”
If Broad had been able to find a similar way through Steve Smith’s defences, the urn might be heading back to Lord’s but as it was, the former Australia captain piled up 774 runs in just seven innings to leave England scratching its head over and over again.
“They had one batsman who has been a 15 out of 10 and we’ve not had that, which has been a huge difference,” Broad said. “We would have really liked to win the series but if we sit down in a week’s time without the emotion, it is probably the right result.”