OTD 1957: Chris Broad’s birthday

Sep 29, 2023

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Christopher Broad, a name common to avid watchers of the game as a match referee, has been active in the game of cricket since the early 1980s. He turns 66 on September 29, and continues to contribute to the game.

Born in Somerset, Chris Broad grew up to be a tall and powerful opening batter. His left-handed bat was useful for England as well as his county teams, viz., Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire. Impressive performances in first-class cricket meant that Broad was soon called to represent the national team during 1984’s home tour against the then might West Indies.

In the days when Test cricket was more dominant than the modern day formats, Broad had a conventional batting style, which he used to good effect. His strike rate in Tests, 37.86, was lower than his batting average in the format, 39.54 – an approach that is simply opposite to the current era of English cricket under Ben Stokes’ captaincy. However, his contributions in those days were more than welcomed by the team.

Speaking more of his records, he represented England in 25 Tests and scored 1661 runs in with six hundreds and equinumerous half-centuries. With such low strike-rate, the batter also managed to cross the boundary ropes once in his entire Test career. When it came to his ODI records, he represented in 34 matches, aggregating 1361 runs in the process at an average of 40.02.

In 1989, his slower batting approach during changing dimensions of the game were no longer accepted, and thus, he decided to hang his boots. Later, he turned a commentator, which was equally sweet as his shots on the field. He later went on to become a match referee for international matches around the globe, and has since been the gamekeeper who helps in keeping spirit of the game alive.

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