Sky Sports - England in Australia

Had it not been for one spell of bowling by Stuart Broad at the Oval last summer, England may not be in possession of the Ashes right now.

With the series level at 1-1 Broad claimed a five-wicket haul - including picking up 4-8 - to turn the match, and the series, in favour of Andrew Strauss' side.

During the early years, the 24-year-old didn't look like becoming a bowler at all as it appeared he would follow in the footsteps of his father - Chris Broad - and become an opening batsman.

Broad only made his first class debut for Leicestershire in 2005 - the same summer that Michael Vaughan and his England team-mates won back the Ashes so memorably on home turf.

However he quickly marked himself out as a talent and in 2006 made his first appearance for England in a Twenty20 clash with Pakistan at Bristol.

A Test bow followed in Sri Lanka at the end of 2007, though it wasn't until the tour of New Zealand, in the absence of Ashes winners Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, the following year that he established himself as a regular.

In the early stages he was more consistent with the bat than ball - managing three half-centuries in his first eight Tests - to such an extent that people suggested he could the ready-made replacement for Andrew Flintoff.

The runs did dry up a little and he found himself coming in at number nine when he hit 169, his maiden first-class ton, against Pakistan at Lord's during a record eighth-wicket stand with Jonathan Trott.

His bowling belies his baby-faced looks. Don't let the blonde hair and sweet smile fool you, Broad is a fiery competitor who has, occasionally, crossed the line with some of his antics against opposing batsmen.

Father Chris hit three centuries for Mike Gatting's successful tourists in 1986/87 - the last England side to win Down Under - Stuart will hope to keep up the family tradition by beating Australia in their own back yard.