In a strongly-worded statement, England speedster Stuart Broad said that he does not consider the last Ashes in Australia as the "real Ashes." A veteran of 161 Tests, Broad, was part of this five-match series and pointed out that since the series was played when COVID-19 restrictions were in place, it wasn't an easy life for the players last time around.

In an interview to Daily Mail, Broad described that Ashes as the harshest one.


"Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series. But in my mind, I don't class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game,” Broad said.


"Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the Covid restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise. I've written it off as a void series," he stated.

It is pertinent to note that other than the Sydney Test of that Ashes series, where England had managed to hold on to a draw by ensuring that they do not lose all their wickets in the second innings, Australia were the dominant team in all other matches. As a result, the hosts had emerged victorious 4-0.

Looking forward to the Ashes this time around, Broad said that he was looking forward to see the tactics Australian bowlers come up with for English batters who have been ultra positve approach ever since the duo of captain and coach Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum taken charge. The refreshing approach to Test cricket has often been dubbed as the "BazBall" style of cricket.

"I'm fascinated to see how their bowling attack will defend against us, and it will be interesting to see how their batters stay calm because we play so aggressively now. Will they be able stick to their game plans and bubbles when we're playing this style? That will be a test for them," Broad said.

"It would be great for us if Australia try to take us on at our own game. If we can get them playing in a slightly different style they could make mistakes and that would be brilliant for us,” he added.

Ashes this year is all set to commence on June 16 with the series opener scheduled at the Edgbaston in Birmingham.