Stuart Broad's mother explains rise of 'feisty' England cricket legend as retirement nears

Broad has taken 600 Test wickets throughout his career and confirmed he'd be retiring from the sport over the weekend.

And his mother, Carole, has now opened up on how the veteran became a hero for his country.

First, she makes it clear Broad is quitting at the right time.

"Of course you have conversations but Stuart is a master of making the right decision and he's done it again," she told the BBC.

"He is feisty in everything but not feisty at home.

"In anything, he is competitive and he doesn't like coming second.

"I don't know what it is about the Ashes, it's just something extra special and I've always said to him you know you can carry on when you tingle when you walk on to the pitch."

As a youngster, Broad would spend hours practicing. But he never broke anything and, in her eyes, he has 'something extra'.

"For years, he always wanted a ball for his birthday," she said.

"He's played all sports and he has something extra that every person in this field does.

"He never broke a window and we never had any ornaments. We had a floodlight put in so he could play at night. His bat was precious. Gemma trained him, she could catch better than him.

"It's their story, it's about people and the comradery we have as parents is immense.

"They can be what they want to be and if you want to, you're going to do it.

"You don't need your mum to say it. I'd always say to him: 'Did you enjoy it?'

"He was like me, I was tiny as a short teenager and then shot up and the same happened to Stuart, he grew six inches in a year."

After so many appearances for England, some would think the novelty of seeing him play for his country wouldn't impact Carole.

Yet they'd be wrong and she still finds the sight of her son in England colours to be emotional.

"If I look at Cook or Anderson, I get very emotional," she continued.

"When the hard bits come, it's all about people. He told me he doesn't want a fuss but I thought, I want him to have a fuss!

"The first day I saw him come down the stairs I got a tingle and I still get that.

"I just really want them to win."

Broad's father, Chris, has also revealed his son nearly performed a U-turn on retirement.

"At the start of the season, he was thinking this was going to be his last series," he told the Daily Mail.

"But once the series started, he was enjoying it so much that he was unsure."

Broad won't play on, however, and will now pursue a new challenge in commentary once the Ashes draws to a close.