(Source X)
Stuart Broad, the seasoned English cricketer renowned for his 604 Test wickets, has recently addressed the troubling issue of online abuse plaguing athletes today. He highlighted the pervasive nature of this problem across social media platforms, a challenge that athletes frequently face.
In a similar vein, Hardik Pandya of Indian cricket faced a barrage of negativity online following Mumbai Indians’ last-place finish in IPL 2024. However, Pandya turned adversity into triumph with stellar performances in the T20 World Cup, ultimately contributing significantly to India’s victorious campaign in the tournament.
Broad, who stands as England’s second-highest Test wicket-taker, boasts a remarkable career spanning 167 Test matches, 121 ODIs, and 56 T20Is, accumulating a total of 847 international wickets across all formats. His resilience both on and off the field underscores his enduring impact in cricket.
During a recent podcast, Stuart Broad delved into the detrimental impact of social media on cricketers, reflecting on a poignant moment during England’s innings defeat to South Africa at Lord’s in 2022.
“If we lose a game, and you go on Social Media, you would literally think you are the worst person in the world. So we lost a match against South Africa at Lord’s and Stokes and Baz spoke about not being scared of losing because the way we are going to play we are going to risk losing to win more games and entertain,” said Broad on the 4Cast Youtube channel.
“This loss will do us good because it proves we’ve to play in a more entertaining and more positive way next time. So that made me be able to put that loss behind me straight away. And if you hold on to that negativity it can be really difficult to deal with. There’s no win with it ( Social Media), you can’t win,” he added further.
He added that modern cricketers face greater challenges in managing criticism and media scrutiny compared to the early 2000s, largely due to the pervasive influence of social media.
“It’s much harder now as when i started you had to buy a newspaper, find the cricket article and read that you are crap. I am glad I’ve got experience behind me when Social Media arrived at our doorstep. Can see how difficult it must be for young professionals,” stated Broad.
Broad also shared insights into the aftermath of England’s defeat in the previous Ashes series against Australia, highlighting the scrutiny and treatment the national team endured during that period.
Ben Stokes joined the conversation on the podcast, recalling England’s challenging series loss to India earlier in the year. He specifically mentioned the criticism surrounding the team’s unsuccessful “Bazball” experiment, emphasizing the current squad’s dynamic approach to Test cricket and the undue negativity they have faced as a result.
“Getting older and being in so many different situations in sports gives you invaluable experience and maturity almost. Being in the position we are in, yes we get some amazing things but we are also exposed to a lot of negativity from people. There’s no such thing as a bad day in sport” said Stokes on the same podcast.
England recently dominated West Indies in their Test series, claiming victory in the first match by an innings and 114 runs, followed by another commanding win by 241 runs at Trent Bridge in the second Test. These successes have propelled England up the World Test Championship points table to sixth place, significantly improving their percentage to 31.25. Meanwhile, West Indies have descended to the bottom of the table following these defeats.
