Moeen Ali retired from this edition. Jack Leach, who came out of retirement with an injury, is likely to retire again at the end of this series. Moeen may be playing the ‘last’ Test of his career at the Oval. It is yet to be officially announced, but the announcement of Stuart Broad’s retirement confirms Moeen’s presence in a cycle. Moeen played in the farewell matches of the three editions of Broad.
James Anderson:
Australians accompanied James Anderson through the guard of honor, Broad went to bat for the last time in the Test today. Broad announced his retirement from professional cricket yesterday, so it was quite an emotional moment at the Oval. The duo’s partnership did not last long, after which Broad took to bowling. Moeen, who was not on the field yesterday due to injury, has become fit, this off-spinner also came to bowl in the tenth over.
Broad played in the last ODI of the series against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016. Dropped out after the 2015 World Cup, returned to the series almost a year later for two matches. Broad was not seen in limited overs international cricket after that.
Apart from Broad and Moeen, there are three more English players in the Oval Test who played in that ODI—Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes. However, except for Moin, none of them were in that T20 World Cup match in Chittagong in 2014.
Broad’s career was in jeopardy when he hit Yuvraj Singh for six sixes in the 2007 T20 World Cup. However, Broad became England’s captain later in this edition. He also led them in two T20 World Cups.
England Broad
Broad also led England in the World Cup held in Bangladesh in 2014. England’s World Cup career ended with a match against the Netherlands, which they lost by 45 runs. That was the last T20I of Broad’s career. In that match too, Moeen played with Broad, who made his debut in this edition that year.
The Oval Test will be Broad’s last recognized match as he bid farewell to professional cricket with the Ashes. Broad played limited overs cricket for Nottinghamshire till 2017 despite not playing at the international level. His last List ‘A’ match was in July that year, against Surrey at Lord’s.
Broad’s last T20 match, however, was outside England. Apart from the T20 Blast, Broad also played in Australia’s Big Bash League. Playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the 2016–17 season, Broad played his last recognized Twenty20 match against the Perth Scorchers in January 2017.