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Broad more than a decent bloke

Australians love to hate him, but Stuart Broad's impact off the field is larger than his deeds on it

He’s the straw man for whom Australia crowds and columnists have worked up such a confected disdain his name appears on some of the most offensive items of cricket apparel the game has spawned.

He’s the England hero who no lesser judge than Sir Ian Botham believes single-handedly swung the Ashes contest just gone, and who should have rightfully edged out Joe Root for the Compton-Miller Medal as player of the series that was announced yesterday.

And he’s the bowler whose image will come to define the 2015 campaign in much the same way as Andrew Flintoff and Brett Lee’s shared moment did in 2005, with his Munch-esque reaction at the height of his record-breaking Trent Bridge spell being one that will cause many of his victims to wake in fright over years to come. 

Broad could hardly believe Ben Stokes' catch at Trent Bridge

But it can be reasonably argued that Stuart Broad, leading wicket-taker of the series that England won 3-2 on the back of a handful of stunning individual efforts, does his most effective work away from cricket, through his involvement in a deeply personal charity organisation.

The Broad Appeal was established in 2010, shortly after the death of Stuart’s stepmother Michelle (known to all as Miche) who had been diagnosed with the incurable motor neurone disease 15 months earlier.

Miche, who was married to Stuart’s father, the former England Test opener turned ICC match referee Chris Broad, was well known throughout the sporting community as an organiser of international golf tournaments.

It was while she was in Australia for work in 2009 that she first became aware of some concerning symptoms and, upon being convinced to seek medical advice she was referred to a leading neurologist who confirmed the diagnosis.

“Her symptoms were – she had the odd headache every now and then – but we’d be out for dinner, she’d have a glass of wine and she’d start to slur her words,” Stuart Broad told cricket.com.au on the eve of the final Ashes Test at The Oval last week.

“We were a very tight family so we’d be like ‘oh Miche, you’re getting old you can’t even handle your wine any more’.

"And that was how she became a bit concerned, after three or four dinners of slurring her words after one glass of wine she went to the specialists and there it was – bang.

“I went to the Twenty20 World Cup in 2010 and Miche was fine, quite chatty and I came back three and half weeks later and she couldn’t even smile, so it just got whipped away from her.

“She was diagnosed and passed away within 15 months, which is a frightening pace really.

“It attacks your system in a way that no-one can imagine, and it’s the worst disease – in my opinion – that you can possibly have because your mind is perfectly fine but your body is progressively not responding.

“You tell yourself to move your right arm and nothing happens. You can’t eat, you can’t swallow, but your mind is fine.

“It’s horrible.”

Over the past five years, the Broad Appeal has raised around £500,000 to further research into a disease which continues to mystify science but affects around two people in every 100,000 per annum and is twice as prevalent in men as women.

Australia allrounder Shane Watson has lent his support to the ongoing research as a result of his friendship with sufferer Dr Ian Davis, a former Melbourne-based leukaemia specialist who was diagnosed with MND in 2011, and raised funds during the recent ICC World Cup.

But unlike other sports-based charitable institutions such as the McGrath Foundation that has established national and global awareness through its association with the annual New Year Test at the SCG, the Broad Appeal remains essentially a cottage industry by comparison. 

Image Id: ~/media/27255AD916EE46579766728C6767DFFD

Father and son have raised around £500,000 // Getty Images

Based in Nottingham where Stuart was born and plays his county cricket when international duties allow, the charity was established by Chris, Stuart and his sister Gemma who was formerly a data analyst working with the England men’s team.

The fact that Gemma has left that role and is currently spending a year in New Zealand, the nation of her birth, means some of the charity’s administration work has fallen to 29-year-old Stuart who admits he’s far more comfortable with seam bowling than spreadsheets.

“A bit more admin has fallen into my lap, but dad and his fiancée Rose take on a huge amount of the weight, and my mum (Carole) and my step-dad organised a golf day that went fantastically well at Nottinghamshire Golf Club this year that raised £11-12,000,” he said.

“I try to get involved as much as I can, we try to meet up every six weeks or so to throw ideas about but generally for prizes and stuff I’m always on the phone to (England and Wales Cricket Board corporate partners) Investec and Adidas.

“They must hate seeing my name popping up on their phone, but they’ve been so supportive as well and you can’t really do this type of thing without the support of the people around you.

“It’s very much the family just helping out, with us trying to get people to wear stickers, and my girlfriend (Bealey Mitchell) wearing the T-shirt to help promote it outside the ground.

“So it’s very intimate, and I think people enjoy that as well.

“It’s a bit of a different side to it  - the local club having a stand selling caps where you can just throw in a tenner for a cap.

“Dad phones up the local pub and they help out with a stand, it’s not professional – and I mean that with all respect to dad, but it’s not professionally run by an organisation.

“And I think that keeps a bit of the character of Nottinghamshire as well and people feel like they can get connected to the Broad Appeal and help us out in any way whether it’s for £5 or £500.”

The fact that the Broad Appeal planned a special fundraising and awareness promotion on day two of the fourth Ashes Test at the Broads’ home ground at Trent Bridge was significantly enhanced by Stuart’s devastating impact on that match.

His remarkable 8-15 on the opening morning that saw Australia humbled for 60 in less than 20 overs meant the game was completed by lunch time on the third day.

But in the interim, he could scarcely have generated more publicity for the cause as man of the match and owner of the best bowling figures by an Englishman in an Ashes contest for more than 60 years.

And while he will continue to raise money and hopes for a cure, Broad does not see the Appeal that carries his family’s name assuming a role quite as prominent as the McGrath Foundation for which the SCG turns pink on one day every January. 

Watch: Glenn McGrath helping raise funds for his charity last summer

Despite the pantomime villain status that Broad carries among Australia fans and the occasional newspaper campaign, and which is squarely at odds with his engaging and enlightening off-field manner, he will cherish the chance to play in another ‘pink’ Test when the Ashes return to Australia in 2017-18.

“The McGrath Foundation is spectacular what they’ve been able to do, obviously with a lot of support from Cricket Australia and Cricket New South Wales, that Test match is very special to play in actually,” he said.

“When you see that the whole ground turns pink and it’s a really brilliant occasion, and it’s raising huge awareness over there and funds for cancer.

“So that’s an inspiration, and obviously we’re never going to reach the levels of the McGrath Foundation but we’re just trying to raise awareness in our own particular way.

“When Miche was first diagnosed with it, dad told me and I had no idea what it was – neither of us had ever heard of it.

“So I think we’ve broadened the horizons of the public slightly on what motor-neurone disease is, and I think when you know about the disease and that it’s essentially a death penalty with no cure it makes people want to help you try and find a cure.

“It’s not a widespread disease, it’s not going to affect everyone but since I’ve started doing research on it the number of people who have come to me and said ‘I know someone with it’ etcetera makes me realise there’s a lot of it about.

“So I think raising awareness of it around the world is so important.

“The scary thing is there’s no cure, but hopefully in my lifetime if we can keep putting money into research and supporting good science that can find a cure because there will be something out there that can help.”

Who knows?

Maybe even Australia cricket fans might add their support by wearing T-shirts that proclaim ‘Stuart Broad is a decent bloke’.

For more information on The Broad Appeal visit their website