Watch: Nasser in tears, Smith's king-sized gesture as Stuart Broad urges Anderson to join him in Ashes guard of honour

England's star Test pacer Stuart Broad shocked the fans on Saturday when he announced his international retirement following the end of Day 3 of the final Ashes Test. Broad had remained unbeaten on 2 as he was joined by James Anderson for the final wicket, as England had ended the third day at 389/9 in London; in the post-day interview, Broad confirmed his decision to retire from the game. At 37, Broad is among the select few bowlers in cricket history with over 600 Test wickets to his name, and the pacer forged a lethal bowling duo alongside Anderson in the longest format of the game.

Fittingly, the Australia players lined up for a guard of honour for Broad ahead of the start of Day 4, but the English veteran pacer reserved a brilliant gesture for his long-term bowling partner Anderson as the two emerged from the dressing room. As they took to the field, Broad gave Anderson a side-hug and appeared to take him along during the guard of honor as well.

Anderson stayed behind the boundary line and let Broad enjoy his moment. Following the guard of honor, Nasser Hussain – the former English captain who was on-air during the moment – teared up as well.

Watch the brilliant gesture from the Aussie team, as well as Broad here:

Here's the boundary side view of the moment:

An emotional Hussain stated that Broad's gesture towards Anderson made him tear up. “I'm tearing up here. He wanted him to go through with him, put his arm around him, as he did all through his career,” Hussain said on-air. Incidentally, Sunday also marked Anderson's 41st birthday.

Stuart Broad's final act with the bat in his international career was a six against Mitchell Starc, which also proved to be England's final runs on the board before the side was bowled out on 395. The left-handed batter smashed Starc's short-pitched delivery for a brilliant six over mid-wicket, much to the delight of the fans present at The Oval.

Watch:

The English innings ended in the very next over, with James Anderson being dismissed leg-before as he attempted a reverse-sweep against Todd Murphy.

Australia have already retained the Ashes series, leading 2-1 going into the final Test in London. However, Pat Cummins' men will be aiming at spoiling Broad's farewell with a first Ashes series win on English soil since 2001.