Ashes 2015: Stuart Broad reflects on the best day of his career

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Media caption,

Broad delighted with 'dream' day

England hero Stuart Broad described the domination of Australia at Trent Bridge as the best day of his career, but said the Ashes are not over.

Broad took a career-best 8-15 as England - 2-1 leaders in the series - bowled out Australia for 60.

They then reached 274-4, with Joe Root scoring 124, by the close of a stunning opening day of the fourth Test.

"It was one of those days you dream of," he said. "It's been the perfect day but it starts again tomorrow.

"A 214-run lead after day one is probably as powerful a performance as I've ever seen or been involved in."

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After England won the toss and put Australia in, Broad set the tone for an electrifying morning by taking two wickets in his first over to become the fifth Englishman to pass 300 in Tests.

In taking his first five wickets in 19 balls, he equalled the fastest five-wicket-haul in Test history before recording his career-best figures.

"My previous best-ever bowling was 7-12 against Kimbolton School under-15s so it was nice to get that against Australia I must admit," he added.

"I keep looking up at the scoreboard and it doesn't look real to me. It hasn't sunk in, but it's a bit of a freak day, the kind you work hard for, train for. You want those days when it all works for you and today was one of those days.

Image source, Wikipedia
Image caption,

Stuart Broad's Wikipedia page was amended by a prankster as he took 8-15 in Australia's first innings

"It was probably the all-round perfect fielding and bowling performance backed up with some outstanding batting."

Every one of Broad's eight wickets were slip catches, including an astonishing one-handed effort by Ben Stokes to dismiss Adam Voges.

"He had no right to catch it," said Broad. "I think you could see Adam Lyth already setting off to third man to collect the ball.

"It was an incredible catch. He's got a really nasty broken finger from a few years ago. He can't straighten one of his fingers and he's claiming it was the claw that caught it."

Image source, @Jimmy9
Image caption,

Injured England bowler James Anderson was at Trent Bridge to see the first day

Despite England's dominant position, Broad expects Australia to make them work hard to regain the urn over the remainder of the match.

"We've been conscious all week to not talk about winning the Ashes because I think that mentally takes you to a dangerous place," Broad added.

"We've been very focussed on making sure it's been all about us. Alastair Cook said let's enjoy the next hour in the changing room, but let's reset for tomorrow because Australia will fight back.

"That's the sort of characters they are and we want to try to bat them out of the game."

Image source, BBC Sport

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