Stuart Broad says wicket-taking milestone is special as he overtakes his hero

Stuart Broad revelled in surpassing his “hero” Sir Ian Botham after moving up to second on the list of England’s all-time leading Test wicket-takers.

Broad went above Botham after collecting his 384th scalp by castling Shane Dowrich to help England crush West Indies by an innings and 209 runs inside three days of the inaugural day-night Test on these shores.

It was Botham who handed Broad his Test cap in Colombo in December 2007 and the former all-rounder clearly welcomed being dislodged from second place behind James Anderson as he applauded the 31-year-old’s achievement.

Broad paid a glowing tribute to Botham, telling Sky Sports Cricket: “He’s obviously been a hero of mine, someone who gave me my Test cap back in 2007 and someone who inspired me to play cricket for England with his performances.

“It’s very special to be up there in the ranks with him.”

Botham himself added: “It was great, I’m very pleased for him, I think it’s terrific.”

Only his long-term opening bowling partner Anderson – with 492 Test victims – now looks down on Broad, who revealed he prefers to focus on England victories rather than personal milestones.

He said: “They add up pretty quickly. There’s been some great memories along the way, certainly.

“You don’t really remember the wickets you take, you remember the Test matches you win and those special moments winning series.

“It’s a very special day, having the family here and being able to take a special wicket but it’s the Test series wins that you remember.”

Joe Root was quick to salute one of his premier pacemen after seeing his side claim 19 wickets in a day against the hapless Windies to move 1-0 up in the three-match Investec series.

Root said: “He’s had a fantastic career to date, I’m sure there’s plenty more in the tank. It’s one of those days that he’ll remember for a long time.”

This was England’s first experience of floodlit Test cricket, in which they racked up 514 for eight declared – thanks to a double hundred from Alastair Cook and a century too from Root – before skittling the Windies for 168 and 137.

England’s next taste of the pink ball under lights will come in this winter’s Ashes at Adelaide and Root added of the format: “I’m pretty pleased with it, we’ve won in three days and I’ve got some runs.

“It’s been a great week for us, very interesting, quite exciting and a bit different. We’ll see where it goes in the future.”