Sam Collins: Broad can learn from Murray, Rooney and Ponting
February 2nd, 2010 by Sam Collins in England
Two years ago Stuart Broad would have cruised a nice-guy contest with those other bright young things of British sport, Andy Murray and Wayne Rooney.
He still has the looks, but it is a quirk of timing that the month that Murray served further notice of an impressive maturity and Rooney ended as England’s football captain-elect was the least distinguished of Broad’s England career.
It is not so much Broad’s faltering performances with bat and ball as the misjudged tough-guy act that has upset that small but formidable dynamic of cricket-loving mothers everywhere – with the abuse of officialdom formerly the preserve of Murray and Rooney now firmly in his repertoire of regrettable behaviour.
Yet just as it is surely no coincidence that Murray and Rooney’s behaviour have improved with their performances and increased understanding of what it takes to start consistently fulfilling their potential, Broad’s hissy-fits have become more noticeable and pronounced as he battles expectation and inconsistency.
For an English media bred to love scapegoats, he made himself an easy target in South Africa. The Independent’s James Lawton was one of many to come down brutally, “Stuart Broad isn’t beginning to match in performance the arrogance of his manner or the suggestion that if he was indeed the Evelyn Waugh character young Lord Sebastian Flyte, rather than someone with the looks to audition for the part, the famous teddy bear would be seriously battered by the number of times it had been thrown out of the pram.”
Before the final Test with South Africa, during which he was criticised for shaking his head after being given out by the TV cameras, Broad gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he stressed to an almost painful degree that he did not care about being liked. It was also interesting for the insight into his self-perception.
‘I know there are times when I’ve crossed the line. In Trinidad last year, I bowled a bouncer at Brendan Nash and Daryl Harper gave it as a wide. It was 40 degrees, roasting hot, they were about 500 for 5 and I didn’t agree. I was sweating my **** off trying to get this fella out and I was just so frustrated. I shook my head and as I walked back I kicked one of the footholes. I saw it on TV that night and felt quite embarrassed. I looked angrier than I actually was, but it was still silly.’
As Lawton and Martin Samuel suggest, perhaps the reason Broad’s petulance attracts such comment is because he makes for such an unlikely angry young man, and so he does look pretty silly when he is being one.
Yet whatever it looks like, fire is a great attribute – better we pick at too much of it than too little.
Earlier in that Mail interview Broad reveals his admiration for Ricky Ponting, “He gives the opposition nothing to feed on. He doesn’t want to be liked, he doesn’t want you to smile at him, all he focuses on is Australia winning the match.”
Broad will realise in time that the lesson he can learn off Ponting is more than how to intimidate the opposition, it is how to channel his passion internally. Ponting has had his blips, but has overcome them in the main to become a role model for fiery young sportsmen who hope to mature into something altogether more lasting.
Sam Collins is editor of thewisdencricketer.com
Follow him on twitter @wisdencric_sam
Posted in England | 4 Comments »
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I don’t think he is faltering. He has had two good series with the ball in a row.
All that stuff about him being a batsman is so much fluffy distraction anyway. He’d be far more valuable if he keeps developing as a bowler and put the batting on the back-burner, as most all-rounders have shown recently it is near on impossible to do both successfully and stay healthy.
And he looks a far better prospect as a bowler than with the bat.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Winsome, I think it would be fairer to say he has had two blistering spells in two series, when he finds his rhythm and consistency, fabulous. But twice in nine test matches is the reality, the consistency doesn’t meet the demands of Test match cricket.
The quote of his view on Ponting is an enlightening one about his character. Any modern sportsman must have a thick skin, no doubt, but it’s naive to believe that sticking two fingers up to the world will get you through. I’m not basing that judgement solely on his Ponting comments but on how the supplement his behaviour on the field in the past couple of years.
As a lover of cricket I really dislike his approach to the game. I love to see the competitive heat, and I would love to see Stuart Broad realise that you don’t take any fire away from the contest by playing with respect, grace, even sharing a beer with the man you clean bowled for a duck.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Broad is still very young in top flight cricket. He will go through a phase when his performance will dip, no doubt about it. That is when he’ll regret saying that he doesn’t care about being liked by anyone. Sympathy does play a big role in getting over your hard times – whether you agree to it or not. Today, Murray has the sympathy of almost entire Britain after the Australian Open final. Broad still has a long way to go.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:02 am
I am not saying I like his attitude, I find him more unappealing as a on-field ‘personality’ with every match he plays, but I think you are being harsh on him as regards his bowling. It is not like James Anderson is lighting any fires anywhere.