Stats Analysis – Stuart Broad before & after Varun Aaron’s bouncer

Stuart Broad’s batting has undergone a massive decline ever since he got struck by a bouncer from Varun Aaron during the Manchester test in 2014. The physical blow he took, healed within months, but the psychological blow seems to have left an ever-lasting effect on his batting.

The kind of role that Sam Curran plays for England today is similar to what Stuart Broad played before the Manchester test. But getting Broad out seems to be rather facile these days. Each and every opposition comes out with a similar plan to which Broad has not been able to make a mental adjustment against such plans.

The plans are simple. Bowl short – Rough him up – Clean him up with a yorker or go for the full double bluff tactic. A confident Broad got his feet moving like in the image below and scored runs easily with the drives through the off-side.

The difference has been very noticeable post the Aaron bouncer. His feet are stuck in the crease and there’s barely any confidence or willingness to come on the front-foot.

His fears are evident. He knows what the fast bowlers are going to come up with and hence, he sets up for short balls all the time. Whether it is Neil Wagner bowling or some medium-pacer, he always camps on the back-foot.

Let’s have a look at the stats which yet show Broad’s decline as a batter.

THE SETUP

Here’s the setup that I discussed earlier, which is something that is being used by almost each and every team that bowls to Stuart Broad. New Zealand and Neil Wagner were the latest ones to do so. Wagner bowled 12 balls to Broad, conceded 0, and bowled him thrice in the series.

The field setting clearly indicated a plan to bowl short at Broad. Instead, Wagner went for the double bluff and bowled a yorker.

Broad, as usual, was on the back-foot and missed it altogether only to be rapped on the pads.

A technical flaw is clearly visible and you get that with any player. But, Broad’s failure is induced more by fear than anything else. He needs to work on the psychological aspect before rectifying the technical side of his batting.