Stuart Broad, even at 37 and in the final few hours of being an international cricketer, comes off looking like an absolute brat, the impish kind who prompts people to mutter: ‘…poor parenting perhaps’.
This is why it also feels like he doesn’t deserve to be spoken of in the same vein as, say, a Glenn McGrath or a Courtney Walsh or a Dale Steyn or his own long-time newball partner James Anderson. He seems too posh, too entitled, too exasperating, too full of himself… plain annoying.
Well, with 602 wickets from 167 Test matches (with wickets on offer in the final innings of final Ashes Test at the time of publication), and as the second-highest wicket-taker among all pacers ever in Tests, does it matter what Broad comes across as?
If anything, Broad loves to be hated, and the more his gleeful malevolence gets under the skin of people (opponents mainly), the more he thrives on it by drawing from antipathy. And that is a crucial element in Broad’s unprecedented rise in becoming one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.
Broad isn’t projecting narcissism via his vexing ways, he’s not nearly as doltish as we think he is.
Sure, he’s petty and a little too British to be accepted by most of the world - ahem, colonial hangover - but with that headband on tight and a red-ball in his hand, the bean pole from Nottingham has made some great - much loved - batters look as though they got off a sickening rollercoaster ride.
That’s both a testament to his egregious tongue and his stunning ability with the ball.
The coming together of these two factors brings to mind images of the Australian team of the 90s, the Shane Warnes, the McGraths, the Jason Gillespies and such.
In fact, Broad, son of former English cricketer Chris Broad, publicly admitted in an earlier interview that he grew up 'with a bit more of an Australian mindset rather than a sort of England mindset in the 90s’. And it shows.
He’s always getting in the faces of batters, and even when he isn’t, his voice doesn’t leave their ears. Ironically enough, this - and a few other instigators of course - is precisely what prompted Yuvraj Singh to go after him the way he did during the 2007 T20 World Cup in Durban.
A la, six sixes in an over.
Broad, who had just about learnt how to shave properly at the time, was embarrassed in front of the world, his eyes just barely managing to hold back the tears.
“Yeah, it was obviously a pretty tough day, what would I have been, 21, 22,” said Broad minutes after announcing that the fifth and final Test at The Oval would be his farewell.
“I learnt a lot, I pretty much based a whole mental routine through that experience, knowing that I was left very short as an international performer. I had rushed my preparation, I didn't have any pre-ball routine, I didn't have any focus.
"I started building my 'warrior mode' that I call it after that experience. Ultimately, I wish that didn't happen. What really helped me was that it was a dead rubber, so I didn't feel like I had knocked us out of the World Cup. But I think it steeled me up to make me the competitor I am to this day and has driven me forward a huge amount.”
Rarely do bowlers recover from a passage of time so humiliating, let alone go on to become one of the game’s greats. It’s easy to break this down to his ability to remain studious, his fitness and his commitment to England cricket as a reason for his longevity and success.
But you don’t pick up eight wickets for 15 runs and run through a packed Australian line-up without all that and some.
His desperate desire for a scrap and his ability to ge the crowd charged up one way or the other is exactly why people hate and love him all the same. There’s no such ambiguity with the beloved Anderson’s clean-cut everything.
So, you may not like Broad, and many might agree with you, but how can you win when that’s exactly what he wants from you? Knowing him, that need to piss everyone (at least he isn't biased) off will remain much the same after he bowls his last delivery in international cricket.
Now, that’s true longevity.
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