Sport, like many facets of our lives, is linked to class structure. It shouldn't be but for reasons that would take longer than this short article to analyse, it is. Some of the reasons are obvious. Buying a horse to play polo is not high up on the list of things to do for the vast majority of us, for example.
However, that's not always the case. Cricket, particularly in Britain, is inherently linked to those who have a few bob to go around despite the fact that there's not a massive amount of capital outlay required. And yet, English cricket remains linked to the middle and upper classes.
So when one of the most well known cricketers in Britain takes to Twitter to give advice on how the working class should feel, he would want to choose his words very carefully. He didn't.
Stuart Broad ladies and gentlemen;
Unsurprisingly, the response was not kind.
This is all going to end with a Channel Four documentary in which Stuart Broad tries to make a meal from Tesco value beans & noodles.
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) January 27, 2015
Stuart Broad, there, who's private school charged annual fees more than an annual minimum wage salary. #stay #humble https://t.co/7hpZKtZSGk
— Eliot Rothwell (@EliotRothwell) January 27, 2015
@StuartBroad8 bellend. Try living on minimum wage. You certainly would not be able to afford the PR agent to write this apology for you.
— swedish (@bigpopshow) January 27, 2015
@StuartBroad8 Shut up you patronizing bellend. Like you'd ever have to worry about that...
— LukeHicks (@LukeHicks) January 27, 2015
@StuartBroad8 You have no idea how hard it is. None. You are in NO position to hector anyone.
— Ros Ballinger (@hurricane_ros) January 27, 2015
That's a very small selection of the replies but you get the idea. Broad, whose annual playing salary is around the £500,000 mark, deleted the tweet and then issued this apology.
Clarifying my earlier tweet, I merely wanted to emphasise my amazement at just how big the world is. (1/2)
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) January 27, 2015
No offence meant and sorry if any taken. The hashtag was aimed at myself. (2/2)
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) January 27, 2015
