England bowler Stuart Broad has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes series, bringing the curtain down on an illustrious – and at times electrifying – career.

Here are some of Broad’s greatest displays in the longest format of the game.

Former England team-mate Sir Alastair Cook paid tribute to Broad on BBC’s Test Match Special.

“I’m a bit emotional and a bit surprised, but if you look at the schedule for Stuart Broad, you have India away, Sri Lanka and West Indies next summer, no offence to those sides but Broad is about big moments,” Cook explained. “So for him to get through to another big moment is probably another two-and-a-half years.

“The one player to deliver, alongside Ben Stokes, in the big moments is Stuart Broad and what a feeling that must be for a player.”

Stuart Broad’s retirement has certainly shocked a lot of people but he’s calling time on his career at a great point.

He currently has 602 wickets in 167 Tests, making him the second most successful paceman in Test history behind team-mate James Anderson.

He is England’s leading wicket taker in this series with 20 and will get one last crack at the Aussies when he takes to the field for the fourth innings.

Broad’s idol Glenn McGrath hailed the England seamer as a “true champion”.

McGrath told BBC’s Test Match Special: “It is a big decision but you come to a time when you know. He loves the big moments, he loves the pressure and that is the sign of a true champion. Going out on your own terms is special as well. He has been incredible for England for a long, long time.”

More from Broad speaking on Sky Sports: “A little bit [emotional]. I have thought a lot about it and even up until eight o’clock last night, I wasn’t 50/50 but I was a little bit unsure.

“But once I went to Stokesy’s room and told him I felt really happy. I feel really content with everything I have achieved in the game and ultimately the decision came down to I knew I wanted to leave the game loving cricket and my last memories being a really enjoyable changing room.

“I have so many friends and figures in management that I’ve been around for so long. I look around and I have played so much cricket with all of them. It feels like my changing room and I wanted to sort of walk away playing with a group of players I love to bits.

“No, Ben didn’t [try to change my mind]. He really understood the decision. I hadn’t talked a lot about it. I hadn’t mentioned it to him beforehand but I wanted to make sure I was clear in my mind. I wasn’t really going in for a negotiation really. I was like ‘I need to be clear’ before I mentioned it to anyone.”

Here’s what Stuart Broad said when announcing his retirement from cricket:

“Tomorrow or Monday will be my last day of cricket, it has been a wonderful ride, a huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and England badge as much as I have and I am loving cricket as much as I ever have and this series has just felt like it’s been one of the most enjoyable and entertaining and I always wanted to finish at the top,” Broad told Ian Ward on Sky Sports at the close of day three.

“I made the decision about 8.30 last night. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, a few weeks. England vs Australia has always been the pinnacle for me, I have loved the battles with Australia that have come my way and the team’s way, I have a love affair with Ashes and I think I wanted my last bat and bowl to be in Ashes cricket.

“I told Stokesy last night and told the changing room this morning and to be honest it just felt the right time and I didn’t want friends or Nottinghamshire team mates to see things that might come out so I prefer to just say it and just give it a good crack for the last Australia innings.

“I have thought a lot about it and even up till 8pm last night I wasn’t 50/50 but even when I went up to Stokesy’s room and told him I have felt really happy since and content with everything I have achieved in cricket.

“It feels like my changing room and I wanted to walk away with a team I love to bits.”

The biggest shock of the day came after the close. Stuart Broad trotted down to the side of the pitch and announced that this test match will be his last professional game of cricket.

He told Ian Ward: “Tomorrow or Monday will be my last day of cricket, it has been a wonderful ride – a huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and England badge as much as I have and I am loving cricket as much as I ever have and this series has just felt like it’s been one of the most enjoyable and entertaining and I always wanted to finish at the top.”

It was not a day for centuries, or individual heroics, but rather a complete team performance as England put pressure firmly on Australia by scoring 389 runs in a day, with a lead of 377.

The start to England’s second innings on the morning of day three could not have been more different than Australia’s the day before.

Zak Crawley stood tall and punched a wide half volley from Mitchell Starc to the cover boundary, and England were off and running, in much the same way as he had played the first ball of the series, strong and on the attack.

From that point, the hosts never looked back. Starc’s first over yielded 13 runs, and they had already established a lead, having trailed by 12 after both sides had batted once.

Anderson is given out! He’s hit on the arm trying to reverse sweep and the umpire triggers hims lbw. Anderson reviews but ball tracking shows that it was going over the top.

Anderson survives and gets through the over and the day. England lead by 377 with two days of play to go.

Four runs!

Jimmy Anderson finally gets his reverse sweep away and picks up a boundary. He then slogs Todd Murphy over to the legside and earns another four!