Ryan Broad is a second-generation Queensland cricketer after his father Wayne played 34 first-class games between 1977-78 and 1982-83. The Broads joined Glenn and Sam Trimble as father-son representatives in 2005-06 when Ryan was picked as a Pura Cup opener against Victoria. Over the next three seasons he continued to develop and finished 2007-08 and 2008-09 as the side's second-highest scorer. He signed off two summers ago with a hundred in the second innings of the Sheffield Shield final, his third century in a campaign also including four first-innings zeroes, and finished with 743 runs at 39.10. He was called into the FR Cup team following 135 off 51 balls in a Twenty20 for his club Wynnum-Manly, and produced a top score of 81 and played in the domestic final win.

The previous summer he had 528 first-class runs at 31.44, a haul which was helped by 75 and 107 in the final game against Victoria. Called to join the Academy that winter, he declined after having ankle surgery. In 2009-10 he produced again, picking up 564 runs at 35.25, including two gritty centuries, and spent a lot of time fighting on tricky surfaces. The performances earned him a spot in Australia A's series against Sri Lanka A, with the highlight being 85 in the second game in Townsville.

On Pura Cup debut Broad watched four of his team-mates disappear before he steadied the innings with 23 and he returned for two more matches in that campaign to collect 130 runs at 21.66. Broad, a former Australia Under-19 player and Academy graduate, also appeared in his first ING Cup game and an exciting season included a double-century for Wynnum-Manly. His second year was more productive, although he waited for the final stages of the Pura Cup to show his full talents. After posting 95 against a South Australia attack containing Jason Gillespie and Shaun Tait, he raised his maiden century in the following match against New South Wales with a double of 83 and 111. The innings showed his range - the first was cautious; the second was aggressive, dealing with Stuart MacGill on a fourth-day surface - and he ended the four-match streak with 314 runs at 44.85. Broad also managed some Test exposure at the Gabba in 2006-07 when, as a substitute fielder, he accepted the second-innings catch of Andrew Strauss.
Peter English August 2010