'He had the passion': Atherton praises Stuart Broad's exemplary comeback after WI snub

English cricket team pacer Stuart Broad surprised his fans ahead of the fourth day of the fifth Ashes 2023 Test and announced his retirement from international cricket after the end of the third match. Broad made his debut for England in 2006 against Pakistan and has also gone through a lot of lean phases throughout his cricketing career. 

3 things you need to know 

• Stuart Broad is the highest English wicket-taker against Australia
• Broad is the second-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing Ashes 2023 series against Australia
• Australia lead the five-match series by a margin of 2-1

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Michael Atherton heaps praise on Stuart Broad 

(English cricket team pacer Stuart Broad during his interview after the Day 3 of the fifth Ashes 2023 Test / Image: AP) 

Former English cricket team player Michael Atherton has heaped praise on English pacer Stuart Broad and acknowledged him for the achievements of his cricketing career. Atherton also paid tribute to Broad ahead of Day 4 of the fifth Ashes 2023 Test and said that his desire to come back to the team after being snubbed off from the West Indies tour was commendable. Atherton said: 

Even the great players have to deal with difficult periods in their careers, you've got to keep coming back from them. Twelve months ago, he was left out for the tour of the West Indies. It would have been easy at that point to say 'enough, I'm going to go into the commentary box', but the he had the passion and the desire to come back and improve. 

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Michael Atherton added:

Think of how he has improved to left-handers and coming around the wicket. He has become a nightmare to left-handers in the last third of his career.

Stuart Broad was dropped from the English cricket team following the team's 4-0 loss in Australia in the year 2022. Apart from Broad, his partner James Anderson was also snubbed from the team for the West Indies tour. But both the pacers have made a formidable comeback into the team since Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have taken charge of the Test team.