Ashes 2013: England’s Cook heaps praise on ‘incredible’ Broad after win
Ashes 2013: England captain Alastair Cook heaps praise on "incredible" Stuart Broad after winning the Ashes in Durham
Alastair Cook heaped praise on England’s “incredible” Stuart Broad after the hosts won the Ashes courtesy of a fourth Test victory in Durham.
Cook’s side had set Australia a target of 299 runs thanks to Ian Bell’s century but the tourists appeared to be edging towards victory as David Warner guided the Aussies to 168-2.
However, Tim Bresnan dismissed the controversial batsman before Broad ripped through the Australia batting order, taking an impressive seven second innings wickets, 11 in total for the match.
“At tea we still had a lot of wickets to get. I didn’t expect us to be stood here at 8pm having won the Ashes,” said Cook after the 74-run win.
“Stuart Broad was incredible – he bowled some jaffas out there. Before tea we didn’t get it right but we regrouped and Broady led that from the front. When he clicks he’s got everything – pace, movement and control. When those three click it is hard to face.”
Meanwhile, beaten Australia captain Michael Clarke praised “outstanding” Ryan Harris, who rivalled Broad’s bowling with nine wickets of his own to leave the tourists with a chance of victory at Chester-Le-Street.
“We got outplayed, Stuart Broad bowled a couple of outstanding spells and as soon as we lost Chris Rogers we found it difficult.
“We’ve got to play better than that – Chris and Davey (Warner) played exceptionally well but we couldn’t get over the line.
“Obviously we want to perform better than we have done, we need some time to let this sink in.
“Our bowlers have done a fantastic job throughout this series, Ryan Harris was outstanding and I feel really disappointed that I’ve let him down.”
