Stuart Broad announces retirement: 'Hell of a career', 'undeniably great cricketer for England'

Stuart Broad announced his retirement from cricket during the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval. With the England bowler surpassing the 600 wickets mark during the series and becoming the highest wicket-taker in an Ashes for England, third most overall, former players hailed his contribution to the game.Key quotes from Stuart Broad's announcement at close on the third day of the fifth Ashes Test."He's an undeniably great cricketer for England -- 167 games, 602 wickets, and that performance of 8-15 at Trent Bridge against Australia (in 2015) was the defining performance of his career."He's got more Ashes wickets than anyone else in an England shirt, he himself says the Ashes brought the best out of him, and I think that's why he's made the decision to go here."-- Former England captain Michael Atherton"A great cricketer deserves to go out at the top.... I think the crowd here over the next couple of days would want to give him a send-off."He is the complete article. Fitness, hunger, skill, cleverness."-- Former England skipper Nasser Hussain"I'm a bit emotional and a bit surprised.... 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."-- Former England captain and teammate Alastair Cook"He (Broad) has been a terrific bowler, he has been a great. His partnership with Jimmy Anderson will always be remembered. Anderson and Broad the whole decade they played for England, they have really put in some fantastic performances."To take 600 wickets and to play the number of Test matches he has takes a special kind of cricketer.""My best wishes to him and congratulations on a fantastic career. I hope he gets to finish it off in the best possible way he wants to."-- India men's cricket team coach Rahul Dravid"Stuart Broad is quite simply one of England’s all-time greats. One of the game's fiercest competitors, it is fitting that he should choose to retire from the game at the culmination of such a closely contested and exciting Ashes series."-- Richard Gould, England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive"What you admire about a guy like that is that he charges in no matter what the conditions are and he fights all day and I think that's all you can ask from a cricketer and his record is unbelievable. He's had a hell of a career"-- Australia off-spinner Todd Murphy