The Ashes: Channel Seven commentator Stuart Broad reveals emotions behind viral reaction to England collapse
Stuart Broad could not hide his frustration as England threw away a golden chance in the first Test in Perth as the Channel Seven commentator revealed he was praying it wasn’t actually happening.
Having seemingly been cruising at effectively 1-105 the tourists saw their advantage wiped away in the blink of an eye losing four wickets in the space of 19 balls shortly after lunch on day two.
Broad simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath sitting next to Matthew Hayden was fired up by the Australian fightback.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.His reaction was quickly clipped up by Seven and was also shared by British broadcaster Sky Sports attracting hundreds of thousands of views.
““When Root chopped on, every England supporter felt that same punch to the gut at the exact same time, so that reaction you saw was genuine,” he said Seven.
“I think that moment was the biggest turning point in the match. We’d just started to feel a tiny bit settled, thinking we were still properly in the contest, and then Australia did what they did.”
“That’s the magic of the Ashes. The emotion is real on both sides, and it drags you in whether you want it to or not. Every hour felt like a completely different match.”
“I would say it’s a lot easier to lose from the commentary box than it is from the field.”
Having been part of previous Ashes drubbings Down Under, Broad lamented England’s inability to shut out Australia from a position of strength warning it will only get harder.
“Credit to Australia they were absolutely superb, but England just opened that door,” he said.
“I’ve been there loads of time before in Australia we all would have been where they just open that door slightly.
“When you talk about not just playing against the Australian cricket team you’re playing against Australia it’s that moment where that comes in because suddenly the crowd was erupting
“Everyone’s celebrating with their mates in the crowd and you jut see Jamie Smith walking out to bat and think, you’ve never been in a situation like this before, you’ve never felt what is going on.”
