Stuart Broad has shown that he still has a “fire in the belly” to achieve a lot more for England, said former skipper Michael Atherton, asserting that the “champion sportsman” has the potential to claim 600 Test wickets.
After being ignored for the series opener against the West Indies in Southampton, the 34-year-old pacer silenced his critics by putting up scintillating performances in the remaining two Tests. Broad ended the third day of the series decider with 499 Test wickets.
“The mark of a champion sportsman is not when you get knocked down, but how you bounce back and we’ve seen that in this series with Stuart Broad,” Atherton wrote in a column for Sky Sports.
“When you get left out, that’s when you find out a little bit more about yourself. Some players, when they get to that stage and get left out, they might just say, ‘Well, I’ve done enough with my career’.
“But clearly Stuart Broad, with that fire in the belly he showed, has got more to come and he doesn’t just want to
get 500 wickets — he wants to get up to 600 as well,” Atherton added.
“After being left out for the first Test at the Ageas Bowl, he had some things to say about it but my, has he backed up those words with actions.
“True, he’s not going to get anywhere near Muttiah Muralitharan at 800 but just to be the fourth fast bowler to get 500 wickets would show remarkable longevity and stamina,” Atherton said.
