Ashes: Broad's call splits UK press

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Stuart Broad was within his rights to stand his ground, but says he will be remembered as a cheat.

IF you thought the UK press was conflicted over Ashton Agar's innings, wait 'til you get a load of this.

Stuart Broad's refusal to be a jolly good chap and walk after clearly edging to slip during the first Ashes Test overnight has drawn wildly contrasting responses among the Pommy hacks and columnists.

The Telegraph, The Independent and The Mirror all wailed that it was a stake through the heart of the "Spirit of Cricket" (until the next umpiring howler at least when it will presumably be reanimated to be killed again). 

ENGLAND ON TOP AFTER BLUNDER

The Mirror's Oliver Holt listed the reasons that might be given for why Broad shouldn't have walked, but reckoned despite their logic, they constitute "a shame".

"If a sport reaches the stage where it sees a man doing what Broad did and sees nothing wrong, it suggests that sport is in trouble," Holt wrote.

England's Kevin Pietersen defends teammate Stuart Broad's decision to stand his ground, claiming every player has the responsibility of making their own judgement.

"Sometimes, you have to step back from technical arguments and detailed analysis of the rules and ask a simple question.

"How did you feel when you saw Broad get a thick, thick edge, get caught and then pretend he hadn't hit it.

ENGLAND STANDS BEHIND BROAD'S CALL

"So let's be honest: it was hard to witness what happened without feeling a sense of sadness and contempt.

"What Broad did wasn't just disappointing. It was deeply, deeply embarrassing."

England's Stuart Broad (right) leaves the pitch after surviving until the end of Day 3 of the first Ashes Test thanks to a controversial umpiring decision.

On the other end of the spectrum was, of course, the great Ian 'Beefy' Botham, who insisted Broad had done "absolutely the right thing" in standing his ground.

"What was all the fuss about?," he wrote in The Mirror.

SIDDLE REFUSES TO CRITICISE BROAD

"Broad was entitled to stay put, he did not try to influence the umpire in any way, he just stood there and waited for a decision.

"He's got away with one. Good luck to him.

Daniel Garb wraps up the third day of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

"If you're going to start banning and taking action against players who don't walk, then Australia wouldn't have a cricket team.

"I've spoken to the great Aussie opener Bill Lawry about it and he told me he's nicked it to second slip before and just stood there waiting to be told to go.

SOFT RULES ALLOW ANOTHER HOWLER

"Let's get real about this."

Former England captain Michael Atherton, writing in The Times, took a 'Don't hate the playa, hate the game" approach, while struggling to mask his enjoyment that it was Australia on the receiving end this time.

Aleem Dar's bad decision and Stuart Broad opting not to walk dominate a controversial third day of the first Ashes Test.

"The irony will be lost on no one, of course, least of all the Australia team," Atherton wrote.

"Non-walking was introduced to cricket by the Australians, and yesterday they became a victim of its charms."

THE WORST HOWLER IN ASHES MEMORY

"Few international batsmen, if any, walk these days. Adam Gilchrist, the former Australia wicketkeeper, might have been the last of them, but even he was not immune to appealing in his role as wicketkeeper for catches proved not to have come off the edge."

Paul Hayward in The Telegraph also made reference to Gilchrist's "noble act" when he walked in a World Cup semi-final, and the moral quandary he found himself in as a result.

Former Aussie paceman Stuart Clark talks through the Stuart Broad controversy, whether or not he should have walked, and how the Australians used their reviews.

"Some hailed Gilchrist as a groundbreaker. But everyone knows many in his team were livid, and turned on him, for a supposedly needless show of honesty," Hayward wrote.

"Ethics aside, the counter-case against Gilchrist's noble act was he had performed the umpire's job for him when his real obligation was to help Australia win the match.

HUGHES HAILED FOR TICKER

"He described his team-mates as 'flabbergasted' but said: 'I kept going back to the fact that, well, at the end of the day, I had been honest with myself. I felt it was time that players made a stand to take back responsibility for the game. I was at ease with that. The more I thought about it, the more settled I became with what I'd done.'

"The heart soars to read this passage. But we know it does not correspond to the modern world of sport."

Mitchell Starc talks about the controversial Stuard Broad incident on day three of the first Ashes Test.

Hayward wonders if it was the manner of the dismissal-that-wasn't that has seen such opprobrium heaped on Broad, rather than the act itself.

"What if it had been the thinnest of edges instead of a thick one? Was it the obviousness of deflection that stained Broad's reputation? Should we expect one man to walk if he has seen countless others stand their ground?

SCORES, STATS AND VIDEOS

"Of course Broad should have walked, in the strictly moral sense, rather than staying on to score 10 more runs and help strengthen England's hold on this first Test. In the age of match and spot fixing, though, we already knew cricket is no Utopia."

The Independent's James Lawton said Broad's decision had exposed the Spirit of Cricket for what it really is in the modern age.

"Broad … stood mute and mocking in the face of Australian claims that he should walk from the crease," Lawton wrote.

"He was out, completely and demonstrably, and he knew it as well as any of his outraged opponents. He also knew that the Australians had frittered away their DRS chances with some half-baked challenges and he could stand there, defiant and unbowed and unashamed, just as long as he liked.

DUMPED ARTHUR WANTS MORE COMPO

"Broad showed us the spirit of modern cricket vividly enough in (the) flashpoint, one which might well colour the rest of a series which was supposed to feature not …. raw animosity and edgy attrition, but a series of formal English victories.

"Broad's spirit of cricket could be encapsulated easily enough in the classic Aussie phrase, 'Stuff you, mate.'"

In The Guardian, Vic Marks lamented Michael Clarke's lack of patience in using up his reviews before he truly needed them.

"Michael Clarke stood at slip like a puppeteer and for two sessions whichever string he pulled seemed to deliver the required outcome. But in the third session he ran out of strings, patience and reviews. His mind never rested in pursuit of wickets and that instinct became a hindrance," Marks wrote.

"As his impatience led to some speculative reviews, the cupboard was bare when he needed one for what the DRS was designed for: to correct a blatant error by the umpire.

"Aleem Dar got it horribly wrong when Stuart Broad edged Ashton Agar. But so had Clarke in seeking to steal the odd lbw earlier in the innings. A good captain likes the insurance policy of keeping one review in his bag."

And finally, The Sun's Steven Howard seemed to be the only one willing to mention that the England camp, so vocal when one of theirs was removed under dubious circumstances earlier in the Test, were now conspicuously silent.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hailed Ian Bell's 95-run knock to steer England towards the win in the first Ashes Test.

"England stamped and screamed when a controversial umpiring decision saw Jonathan Trott out first ball on Thursday night," Howard wrote.

"Bombastic ECB chairman Giles Clarke even rang ICC chief David Richardson to complain.

"They weren't complaining last night, though.

"Oh, no, this was different."

Howard also detailed Broad's familial history when it comes to staying put, describing a notorious incident involving his father Chris in 1987.

"It came in the Second Test at Lahore in 1987 … Broad was given out — correctly — but refused to budge.

"In fact, he stood there for a full minute until fellow opener Graham Gooch suggested it might be time for him to head back to the pavilion. He was later severely reprimanded.

"You somehow doubt anything will be said to Broad Jnr... apart from 'well done'."

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