The spirit of 2005 gives us an Edg

Broad ready for glory as he tees up big Test finish

- DEAN WILSON

STUART BROAD will summon the spirit of 2005 to help England edge another Ashes thriller at Edgbaston, saying: "It always seems to create cricket on a knife-edge here."

Set 281 to win - just one run fewer than the classic Birmingham Test 18 years ago - the Aussies closed on 107-3.

But Broad, roared on by a passionate crowd, has the wind in his sails after ripping out Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, the No.1 and No.2 ranked batsmen in the world, in a gripping last 45 minutes.

And if it turns into another "nipper", England will hope they come out the right side of a tight finish - just as they pipped the Aussies at Trent Bridge in 2013, Headingley in 2019 and the heart-stopping two-run win at Edgbaston in 2005.

Broad said: "A lot of the games in England have gone close and that's where home advantage can roar you home and carry you over the line.

"There's never any doubt that the atmosphere is going to be superb here and I loved every second of the last hour hearing that roar.

"Ashes cricket is magical and there's a few results still on the table. We know the Aussies still have a lot of danger to come so we will need to be right on the money."

Asked where he was when Steve Harmison bounced out last man Mike Kasprowicz in the nick of time in 2005, Broad laughed and said: "I was watching it on TV at my mum's, mainly hiding behind the sofa.