My youth was Australian cricket winning everything: Stuart Broad

With the Ashes Series round the corner, 30-year old England pacer Stuart Broad may well have sparked an outrage with some of the things that he has had to say about his love for Australian cricket in recent times.

The 30-year old Broad, who currently plays for the Hobart Hurricanes in the ongoing season of the Big Bash League has gone on to state that he looked up to Glenn McGrath while growing up and also named the former Aussie pacer as his ‘hero’.

“My youth was Australian cricket winning everything,” Broad said. “I shouldn’t admit this, but I was an Australian cricket fan. (Glenn) McGrath was my hero.

He also went on to add that as a youngster most are influenced by winning teams. “As a young kid, you’re influenced by winning teams. I loved the way they went about it. I think that’s influenced the way I play. I’m quite aggressive, I like to get into the opposition’s face but enjoy a beer with them after.”

“Yeah, I would (stand my ground). I’ve never been a walker,” Broad said. “(Then England coach) Andy Flower came up to me and said, ‘Great decision’. He went on to add, “I look back on it and we would have lost that Test match. We were short on runs.

“I’m just a really competitive guy. The umpire can make his decision and I’ll stand there.”

He also went on to add a few words on the 2013 Ashes series. “Leading into the 2013 Ashes, they encouraged the crowd to give me a bit of stick. I was actually reading (former Manchester United coach) Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography and he said if the crowd is ignoring you, they are not that worried about you. I took that on and embraced it.

“It’s quite fun, coming down to the boundary and people are coming to the cricket to enjoy the sport. It’s not a personal attack, is it? It’s just a bit of fun.”