"He's born for the Ashes" - Michael Vaughan hails Stuart Broad for his heroics on Day 4 of 1st Ashes Test

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was full of praise for Stuart Broad for his sensational spell at the fag end of Day 4 of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston.

Chasing 281 for victory, Australia looked untroubled at 78/1 until the 36-year-old jolted them with his twin strikes of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.

After his impressive showing in the first innings with figures of 3/68, Broad breathed life into the contest with his spell of 2/28 in nine overs in the second essay to leave the Test match on a knife edge.

Speaking to Cricbuzz at stumps on Day 4, Michael Vaughan reserved special praise for Stuart Broad's ability to rise to the occasion in the pivotal moments.

"Stuart Broad's been a revelation," Vaughan said. "He gets better and better, he's born for the Ashes, should have Ashes by his name. He just seems to love this - the atmosphere, the pressure of bowling to the best players. The spell to get Marnus then Steve Smith just cracked open this game. How many times has he done that in Ashes series."

The 2005 Ashes-winning skipper also believes that having valuable match practice coming into the first Test has helped Broad hit his strides straightway.

Broad was part of the England team that demolished Ireland in the one-off Test before the Ashes. He also featured for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship, picking up 15 wickets in four matches.

"And maybe the fact that he's bowled a bit, he's been playing cricket, bowled a lot of overs, his body looks ready, his rhythm is excellent whereas most of the other England players look like they are a game short of playing at this level," Vaughan added. "I just think a few of them, particularly the keeper Jonny ( Bairstow) has looked short of game practice particularly behind the stumps."

Stuart Broad is the fifth all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests, with 587 scalps in 163 matches at an average of 27.58.

He has also picked up an incredible 136 wickets against Australia in 36 Matches, including 89 scalps in England at an average of 25.79 with six 5-wicket hauls.

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"He's had an iffy game behind the stumps" - Michael Vaughan on Jonny Bairstow's wicketkeeping

Jonny Bairstow fluffs a stumping chance on Day 2

Michael Vaughan was highly critical of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow's work behind the stumps throughout the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston.

The 33-year-old returned to the England Test team after a long layoff due to a leg injury late last year, forcing him to miss the side's tour of Pakistan and New Zealand.

Before his injury, Bairstow was in red-hot form in Test cricket, scoring four centuries in five Tests against New Zealand and India at home. He was instrumental in the Stokes-McCullum partnership taking off, averaging 66 in the red-ball format in 2022.

"He's had an iffy game behind the stumps and that's being very very kind to him," Vaughan stated. "He just looks slow, I can see Alex Carey is keeping well, the movement, how he stays low. Even the stumping of Joe Root which is relatively straight forward but he takes it cleanly, stays low and the bails are off."

"That's why I am intrigued on the last day because whoever loses there's going to be a lot of questions for the captain who has lost to answer," he continued. "Pat Cummins and his tactics, Ben Stokes and his declaration on the first day and if England lose there'll be plenty of question marks about Jonny Bairstow."

Jonny Bairstow missed a stumping and a catch of Cameron Green and Alex Carey, respectively, as they scored a combined 104 runs in Australia's first innings score of 386.

The dashing middle-order batter made matters worse by not going for a caught behind off Usman Khawaja in the first over of the second innings off the bowling of James Anderson.

Despite his shabby glove work, Bairstow has continued his rich batting form, scoring a crucial 78 in the first innings.

Heading into Day 5, Australia require 174 runs to win, with seven wickets in hand to take a 1-0 lead in the 2023 Ashes.