Stuart Broad Reveals What Led to His Famous Ashes Meme During England’s Loss

Stuart Broad explained that his viral Ashes meme came from a moment of frustration as he closed his eyes and hoped England’s sudden batting collapse wasn’t really happening.

Stuart Broad has taken over social media with his viral Ashes meme from the Perth Test. The former England pacer has now explained the moment behind it. The broadcasters caught him in the commentary box at the exact moment Joe Root chopped on for 8, triggering England’s collapse from 65/1 to 76/5. Broad could be seen looking away from the screen, shutting his eyes tightly and rubbing his face in disbelief.

England eventually folded for 164, leaving Australia a target of 205. The hosts then chased the target in 29 overs with eight wickets in hand after a rapid Travis Head century.

“It’s what Test cricket does. It sort of brings all your emotions out and it was that period of commentary where we lost 4 in the blink of an eye. And when Rooty chopped on, it was just a natural reaction for me was to close my eyes and just pray that it wasn’t actually happening. If I close them, maybe it wasn’t actually happening. Can we just soak up a little bit of pressure somehow?” Broad told Sky Cricket.

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“I’ve been there loads of times before in Australia. Where they just opened that door slightly. And you just see Jamie Smith walking out to bat. You think you’ve never been in a situation like this before, you’ve never felt what is going on. Credit to Australia, they were absolutely superb – but England just opened that door,” he continued.

“I’ve seen it plenty of times in Australia when not just the Australian cricket team grab the game but the whole stadium does. You felt the whole energy of everything change. It’s so difficult to do because you’re not just facing Mitchell Starc. You’re facing a 50,000 crowd and the whole energy becomes quite intimidating,” Broad added when speaking to Sydney Morning Herald.

England are 1-0 down in the Ashes, and the next match starts on December 4 in Brisbane.