Stuart Broad took his 500th Test Wicket for England this week becoming only the 7th bowler in the history of the game to achieve this; and only the second Englishman to do so behind James
Anderson (currently on 589).
An extraordinary achievement which sparked the media interest it deserved.
Once again both Broad and Anderson were heralded as ‘greats’ of the game and their fast bowling partnership one of the greatest the world has ever seen.
It is hard to argue against this label for both Broad and Anderson. Indeed, when I checked to see
who was the 7th leading goal scorer of all time, it was the one and only, Pelé.
We do love to argue over what constitutes a ‘great’ sports person and the word is overused; but
Broad’s achievement and subsequent attention, did make me consider what it is to be a true ‘great’.
I have been fortunate to have played sport at the highest level and been in three Olympic cycles, so I reckon I have a decent viewpoint on this.
The first attribute of a ‘great’ is longevity and, of course, at the highest level.
To achieve that they need an ironclad mentality to what they are doing because over the years they will face lots of things to knock them off their perch – injury, rule changes, a slowing body, competition, media pressure, changing conditions, different coaches and selectors.
The list goes on but throughout it, the ‘great’ is immovable in what they want to achieve. This is what separates Anderson and Broad from other excellent England bowlers like Gough and Harmison.
The second attribute is they turn up on the big occasion. An Ashes Test match, an Olympic final or a World Cup final, they are there to dominate.
The bigger the occasion, the more the they will rise up.
Just looking through Anderson and Broad’s careers, this is hugely evident in both of them. They
stand up in the big moments.
The last attribute that I would look for in a ‘great’ is their ability to keep evolving over the years.
We often look at the greatest and believe there is this arrogance about their abilities. That is true to an extent but underneath it they will also hold a humility that they need to keep getting better to survive.
They will continually challenge themselves to do so and not be fearful of the need to keep
improving.
The player they are at the end of their career can look very different to the one at the start; because throughout that time they have been continuously evolving.
Anderson and Broad will leave a mark on English cricket that will be very hard to beat.
Their hunger to keep going and dominate doesn’t look to be waning. I suspect their partnership keeps each other going.
They should be celebrated as they are because we are watching modern greats of cricket and
British sport.
