Retirements in sport are tricky affairs. A swollen ankle, loss of form, youngsters snapping at the heels, selectors’ cold gaze or a dip in love towards the 5 a.m. gym alarm, any of these could force that ‘goodbye’ decision. Sport being that unscripted life-throbbing entity, magical farewells are often elusive.
Sir Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck, Javed Miandad got run-out and many great players slipped at the last hurdle. To perform and equally contribute to a team victory is the stuff of dreams and Stuart Broad precisely did that at the Oval under the London skies on Monday.
Helping England level the Ashes at 2-2 against the ‘old enemy’ Australia was a fitting climax to Broad’s storied career that is often juxtaposed with his great mate James Anderson. The two constituted an incredible fast bowling pair that ended up with more wickets (1039) than the much-feted earlier West Indian duo of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose (762).
