Stuart Broad said changes to the global cricket calendar could mean he will be the last paceman to take 500 Test wickets. 
Broad reached the landmark figure by trapping Kraigg Brathwaite plumb lbw as England completed a dominant 269-run win in the third Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford yesterday that saw the hosts to a 2-1 series victory.
The 34-year-old Broad is only the seventh bowler in history to have taken 500 Test wickets and the fourth quick. When Fred Trueman became the first man to take 300 Test wickets back in 1964, the outstanding England fast bowler, asked if anyone might break his record, reportedly replied: “Aye, but whoever does will be bloody tired.”
Broad, whose one-day international career was effectively ended by England in 2016 to keep him going in the Test match arena, said scheduling would now be the issue for a fast bowler wanting to join him in the ‘500 club’.
“Someone is going to have to play a lot of cricket because there is a lot of competition out there, between different T20 leagues franchises, 100-ball.”
Broad, who also marked his 140th Test with a match haul of 10-67, added: “I feel very lucky to have played for England in an era where we’ve played a lot of Test cricket in the summer and a lot in the winter. I think there’s talk of thinning the amount of Tests we play in a summer down.”
Among active bowlers, only Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon, with 390 Test wickets, would appear to have much hope of becoming the eighth member of a select group. “You need a lot of Test matches to get 500 wickets,” said Broad. “I think there’ll be people who have the talent to get the numbers but whether they’ll be able to play the amount of Test cricket the seam bowlers have to get that feat remains to be seen,” he added.
Broad’s longtime new-ball colleague James Anderson, who is approaching 600 Test wickets, suggested before play yesterday that the Nottinghamshire seamer could surpass his eventual tally. “I’ve never even thought about that,” said Broad. “(But) why not try and follow in Jimmy’s footsteps? He’s been wonderful to play with. If I keep bowling the way I am for the next few years then I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
Broad ended the West Indies series as the leading bowler on either side, with 16 wickets at a miserly average of 10.93, despite being controversially left out of England’s defeat in the first Test at Southampton. “I thought ‘where am I going here?’” admitted Broad. “I’m glad I stayed strong because I’m very happy two weeks later.”
Broad said he still feels fresh and is keen to reprise his heroics against West Indies when England return to the Test arena next week for a three-match series against Pakistan. 
“I’ve never really set any targets and I’ve learned a huge amount through my career, but what is pleasing me at the moment is that I feel so fresh and excited to play the game and I’ve done some technical work that makes me feel in a great rhythm,” he said “Now I’m looking forward to a couple of days off outside the bio-secure environment but also looking forward to being back and playing against Pakistan.”
Broad’s wicket of Brathwaite for the milestone, matched the achievement of his opening ball partner James Anderson whose 500th Test wicket came up at Lord’s three years ago when he dismissed the same batsman.
“What a stat that is,” Broad said.”Jimmy told me in the warm-up, ‘you know who it’s going to be’ and then told me his 500th victim was Brathwaite. “The stars have to be aligned for that to happen! I think that’s going to be a quiz question for many years to come.”
“When you get a milestone and put in performances, you want them to lead to wins so to get to 500 on a day that we managed to win a Test match and a series feels very great, very special,” Broad added.
England meet Pakistan in the first of their three-match series at Old Trafford from Aug. 5-9. Captain Joe Root was asked if he will stick with the same attack against Pakistan, even if Ben Stokes is fully fit once more. The captain replied: “It’s definitely on the table isn’t it? It’s hard to leave anyone out.
“Long may those headaches continue. I think, for now it’s important that everyone just goes away, has some time away from cricket, away from this bubble not thinking about things for a couple of days. “It’s shown character to come back from 1-0 down and we’ve not wavered from how we want to play. We’re looking to start better than here and buck that trend, that’s a big challenge for us come the Pakistan series.”
On Broad’s desire to keep going, Root said: “I really hope that’s the case. As I said about Ben Stokes last week, we’ve got to realise how lucky we are to be in the presence of these guys, time and time again putting in brilliant performances.”



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