Yahoo News England's Stuart Broad considered retiring after West Indies omission but turned negatives into 'ball of fire'
Stuart Broad has revealed he considered retirement after being dropped for England's first Test match against the West Indies in July, but now insists he's more focussed than ever.
The 34-year-old was left out of England's squad having played the previous 51 home Tests, dating back to 2012, as the hosts lost by four wickets in a disappointing opener in Southampton.
Broad was reinstated into the side for the remaining two Tests, however, taking 16 wickets at an average of 10.93 as England regained the Wisden Trophy in emphatic style.
The Nottingham-born bowler reveals his omission came entirely as a surprise, and says retirement was a genuine avenue he was considering going down.
"Were there thoughts of retirement going round my head? One hundred per cent. Because I was so down," Broad told the Mail on Sunday.
"I was expecting to play, which is always a bit of a dangerous thing in sport but I felt I deserved to play.
"I have not really told anyone this but I was so down that week of the first Test. I was really low. I was stuck in that hotel. I couldn't go anywhere.
"I wasn't playing, I was staying in a single room. I didn't sleep for two days. I was nowhere. A different decision could definitely have been made with my emotions of how I was feeling."
On his return to the side, Broad became just the seventh player in history to take 500 Test wickets, now 88 shy of team-mate James Anderson at four years his junior.
"Do I think I'm in England's best XI? Absolutely," he added. "Do I think Jimmy Anderson is in England's best XI? Absolutely.
"There is no doubt that Jimmy and I have got better. No doubt.
"I have seen a lot of numbers over the past week since I took my 500th wicket. The last 18 months, I have been averaging 20.5 per wicket in Test cricket.
"Take age out of that. If anyone were doing that at any age, you would want to keep them around the team for a bit and not look past it."
While admitting he was left down by the initial disappointment of being dropped, Broad reveals he now feels as focussed as ever, having managed to harness the emotion from the "negatives" and turn them into a positive.
"I feel so focused. It’s nothing about proving people wrong. It is about proving me right," he said.
"This is about me knowing I am bowling well, I am almost at the peak of my powers because I have learned so much over the last 13 years and I can put it together so let’s go and perform when I get the opportunity."
He added: "I grabbed everything I could from a negative and turned it into a ball of fire."
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