"Pretty Characterless And Soulless": Stuart Broad Tears Into Edgbaston Pitch

England pacer Stuart Broad was critical of the "characterless and soulless" Edgbaston pitch after the end of second day's play in the ongoing first Ashes Test against Australia. Broad was the pick of the bowlers for England as he struck twice in two balls to remove David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne. However, Australia recovered to 311-5 at stumps on the second day, 82 runs behind England's first-innings 393-8 declared, with left-handed opener Khawaja 126 not out.

"How can I be polite [about the pitch]? It is a very slow, low surface that zaps the energy out of the ball. It is pretty characterless so far, pretty soulless, but you can only judge a surface towards the end of the match and see how it develops," Broad told BBC.

Broad termed the deck as "one of the slowest" he has ever come across, and hoped that the trend won't continue for the remaining games.

"It is certainly one of the slowest pitches I can remember bowling on in England...Hopefully it is not a trend for the whole series," he added.

Broad had cleaned up Khawaja on 112, only for replays to reveal the veteran seamer had over-stepped.

Speaking on his no-ball, Broad replied: "I'm not really a big no-ball bowler. I have probably bowled more today than in a Test match day before. There's no excuse. But it is the first innings of an Ashes Test match, you have some big emotions there so you are trying to gain energy from the surface and maybe pushing a little bit too hard".

(With AFP Inputs)