Stuart Broad became only the second England bowler to reach 500 Test wickets on the fifth day of the third Test against West Indies at Emirates Old Trafford in July 2020. He removed Kraigg Brathwaite, LBW, to follow team-mate James Anderson in reaching that landmark.
Only six other bowlers in history have taken more wickets than Broad, who was playing in his 140th Test match.
"He's a great, not just of English cricket, but of the game," former England captain Michael Vaughan (who gave Broad his first Test cap against Sri Lanka in 2007) told the BBC.
His great friend and bowling partner Anderson said, "Stuart is an absolute credit to himself for the work he's put in the last few years, he is incredible to watch and a real inspiration, not just for the younger members but for me too."
Broad, son of former Notts and England opener Chris, has taken two Test hat-tricks in his career - against India in 2011 and Sri Lanka in 2014 - but perhaps his most famous spell of bowling was the 8-15 he took to bowl out Australia for 60 at Trent Bridge in 2015.
It's that ability to take clusters of wickets for which he is famed – Broad has taken five wickets in an innings 17 times.
"Just to reflect on this achievement, you think of the long career of Courtney Walsh and he was a tireless bowler," said Test Match Special commentator Daniel Norcross.
"Walsh took 519 wickets spread over quite a few years and he was 38 when he finished. Stuart Broad is only 34."
Stuart was Man of the Series against Windies last year, a telling riposte to the England selectors who, controversially, left him out of the eleven for the first Test of the summer.
Harry Gurney, team-mate and business partner, summed up how fellow professionals feel about Stuart and his record as a bowler: “He’s a great cricketer, and a great bloke”, said Harry. “He has achieved so much because he works so hard – and keeps himself very fit.
“When he gets on a roll, it feels like he can take wickets at will and I am very happy to have been on the same team all these years rather than facing him! To mark his achievement, the ECB presented Stuart Broad with a silver stump, mounted with a list of all his wickets, in a presentation case.
