Former England fast bowler stuart broad Has made a shocking confession about the Australian batsman steve smith ahead of upcoming The Ashes 2025-26 Accepting the series, the 36-year-old remains a mystery to him. Despite dismissing Smith a career-high 11 times in Test matches, Broad clearly stated that he still did not know how to dismiss Smith. Broad warned that failure to dismiss the right-handed batsman early would lead to a difficult series for the England team, suggesting that the key to winning the series was to limit Smith’s average well below his career standard.
Ashes 2025-26: Stuart Broad disappointed by Steve Smith’s incredible power
Broad devoted a section of for the love of cricket Podcast detailing the immense frustration and difficulty he faced bowling to Steve Smith. The former bowler confessed that even after bowling against him in 32 matches, he is still no closer to dealing with the glaring weakness in the batsman’s technique.
Broad acknowledged that the Australian’s strength is that his technique, which has changed throughout his career, offers no consistent solution for opposition bowlers. Broad expressed his inability to find fault: “obviously [Smith’s] The technology has changed completely, but I still can’t sit here and say ‘Okay, you can get him out like this.’ He gave it a name, acknowledging that this lack of obvious weakness was Smith’s greatest asset. “Incredible strength.”
Broad lamented the batsman’s ability to score runs off good balls, saying: “He’s incredibly difficult to bowl to. Sometimes you don’t feel like you’ve bowled a bad ball and yet the ball goes for four runs.” He recalled a particularly painful memory from the 2017–18 series where Smith scored 239 in Perth. Broad described the disappointing continuity of that innings by saying: “I remember he got two such big centuries [239 in Perth in 2017] And I didn’t leave the middle of his bat for three days.” he adds: “Every ball I tried to throw hit him in the middle of the bat.” Broad explained the batsman’s mentality by concluding that Smith possessed a rare mental strength: “His mentality is like ‘Okay, this pitch suits me, and I won’t get out’.”
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Ashes 2025-26: Broad names the England bowler who can dismiss Smith
Stuart Broad provided England with a clear target average for Smith which they must achieve to have any hope of winning the upcoming Ashes series. Smith’s career average of 56.02 rises to 59.70 when batting at home in Australia, making the task even more difficult for the English bowlers.
Broad explained the team’s objective: ,We have to maintain that to win the series. [his average] For under 50, right?Broad summed up Smith’s performance: “He’s going to score a century, that’s what he does.” He quantified the success by saying: ,[If] His average is 40, which is at least 15 lower than his career average, so you’re doing great. “I think you’ll have to bring him in quickly.”
The former bowler, while warning, stressed the dire need to get Smith out early.: “If England are not celebrating their first 40, it is going to be a long series.” With the upcoming series starting in Perth, Broad suggested that Jofra Archer could be the main bowler to get the wicket of Smith.
Broad explained his preferred method of dismissal: “Hitting him behind a length, just chasing him.” He concluded by explaining the mechanism: “Because Jofra Archer has the angle to nip back towards the stumps, can he nip one? Smith is looking for a nip-backer.” Broad also recalled a previous English plan in 2019 to aim for a catch at leg gully, which Smith expertly negated, resulting in two centuries and a “Unbelievable innings.”
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