'I was really low' - Stuart Broad was considering retirement after being dropped for the first Test against West Indies

After being dropped from the first Test against West Indies, veteran England pacer Stuart Broad bounced back and proved his worth in the two subsequent Manchester Tests. In the third and final Test at Old Trafford, the right-arm quick paved his way into the illustrious club of fast bowlers who have bagged 500 wickets in the traditional format.

34-year-old Broad, on the fifth day of the third Test, scalped Kraig Brathwaite to become the seventh bowler to be in the illustrious list of bowlers who have plucked 500 wickets with the red ball. Broad achieved the feat in his 14th year of Test cricket.

The 16 wickets he took in the final two Tests against West Indies at Old Trafford came at an average of 10.93 and the pacer hogged the headlines for his brilliant display. However, Broad was considering retirement after being left out for the first Test at Southampton.

I was so down during that week of the first Test: Stuart Broad

“Were there thoughts of retirement going round my head? 100%. Because I was so down. I was expecting to play, which is always a bit of a dangerous thing in sport but I felt I deserved to play. When Stokesy [Ben Stokes] told me I wasn’t playing, I felt my body go into shakes. I could barely speak,” Broad told the Mail on Sunday.

“I have not really told anyone this but I was so down that week of the first Test, I was really low. I was stuck in that hotel. I couldn’t go anywhere. It wasn’t like I could go back to [girlfriend] Mollie and have a barbeque and chill out and reassess,” he added.

Broad, who is now targeting 600 wickets, had paved his way into the England Test side in 2007. He has partnered James Anderson for the most of his career to form a robust pace bowling duo. Anderson, England’s record Test wicket-taker, has 589 scalps to his name so far.

“Do I think I’m in England’s best XI? Absolutely. Do I think Jimmy Anderson is in England’s best XI? Absolutely,” he said.

“There is no doubt that Jimmy and I have got better. No doubt. The last 18 months, I have been averaging 20.5 per wicket in Test cricket. Take age out of that. If anyone were doing that at any age, you would want to keep them around for a bit and not look past it,” added Broad.