England fast bowler Stuart Broad has reached the latest landmark in an illustrious Test career, claiming his 600th wicket in the fourth Ashes Test against Australia.

Broad dismissed Travis Head on day one at Old Trafford to become only the second fast bowler to make it to 600 Test wickets, after his England teammate James Anderson.

Legendary spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619) are the only other bowlers above him on the list.

What	England v Australia, 4th Test
Where	Old Trafford, Manchester
When	Wednesday 19th July to Sunday 23rd July
How to watch	Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event

Oval burst sparks Ashes love affair

Stuart Broad, the son of former England opening batsman Chris Broad, came through the ranks at Leicestershire and made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in December 2007.

It was a tough introduction to Test cricket for the 21-year-old, whose only wicket on a lifeless pitch in Colombo was that of tailender Chaminda Vaas, caught by Ian Bell at slip after miscueing an attempted hook.

Having come into the Test side at such a young age, Broad had to learn his trade on the job and his early returns were modest, with 26 wickets from his first 10 appearances.

However, 2009 was a breakthrough year for the tall right-arm fast bowler, who picked up his first five-wicket haul against the West Indies in Jamaica in February before playing all five Tests of the home Ashes series against Australia.

After taking 6-91 in the fourth Test at Headingley, Broad produced a stunning spell in the series decider at The Oval, dismissing Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin as the Aussies crumbled from 73-0 to 160 all out.

That five-wicket burst marked the start of Broad's career-long love affair with the Ashes and England went on to win the match and clinch the series 2-1.

Hat-trick hero can be hard to stop

Broad's career has been studded with brilliant spells such as that one in the 2009 Ashes decider and he is a hard man to stop once he gets on a roll.

He is one of only four players in the history of the game to take two Test hat-tricks with the first coming against India in 2011 at Trent Bridge, his home ground since 2008 when he moved from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire.

Broad had India captain MS Dhoni caught by Anderson before pinning Harbhajan Singh lbw and bowling Praveen Kumar to complete his hat-trick.

Less than three years later he was at it again, this time against Sri Lanka at Headingley. 

Legendary Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara was his first victim, caught in the gully by Bell off the final ball of the over. Dinesh Chandimal then nicked the first delivery of Broad's next over to Alastair Cook at slip and Shaminda Eranga was caught by wicketkeeper Matt Prior to make it three in a row.

Aussies blown away on unforgettable morning at Trent Bridge

Record-breaking bowlers Broad and Anderson have been virtually unplayable at times in English conditions and 394 of Broad's 600 Test wickets have come at home. 

His most spectacular performance was in the 2015 Ashes at Trent Bridge where, with Anderson out injured, he took 8-15 in 9.3 overs as Australia were bowled out for 60 on the first morning of the match.

Broad has also enjoyed himself at Lord's, the Home of Cricket, where he claimed 7-72 against the West Indies in 2012 and 7-44 against New Zealand the following year.

One of his finest overseas performances came against South Africa in Johannesburg in January 2016. The third Test was finely balanced after both teams' first innings but Broad settled the contest, and the series, in England's favour with a spectacular spell of bowling.

He finished with 6-17 as the Proteas were rolled over for 83, taking the first six wickets to fall including star batsmen Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

England veteran Broad in pantheon of Ashes greats

It was fitting that Broad should reach his latest career landmark against Australia given that he has always relished the high-pressure environment of the Ashes.

His rivalry with Australian opener David Warner has become increasingly one-sided in recent years and, going into the fourth Test of the 2023 Ashes, he had dismissed the left-hander on 17 occasions.

Broad is also poised to become the first England bowler to take 150 Test wickets against Australia and only Aussie greats Warne and Glenn McGrath have claimed more scalps than him in the long history of Ashes cricket.

He moved to 599 Test wickets on the first morning of the fourth Test, trapping opener Usman Khawaja lbw, before dismissing Head, caught in the deep by Joe Root, to get to the 600 mark.

Broad turned 37 in June but is almost four years younger than Anderson, with whom he shared the new ball at Old Trafford, so he may well celebrate a few more Test wickets before hanging up his bowling boots.