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Cricket: Bowler Broad in foot injury scare
Stuart Broad.
England bowler Stuart Broad suffered “heavy bruising” after a ball struck his foot in the nets yesterday.
Broad, 25, was given treatment to his left foot but was not sent for a scan.
An England team spokesman said there were as yet no major concerns over the injury and it was hoped that Broad would be able to bowl tomorrow in the opening Test against Pakistan in Dubai.
Broad soon confirmed that the injury is not going to trouble him for long.
“I am spending the afternoon with my foot being iced,” he revealed.
“Jimmy (Anderson) got me with an inswinging yorker in the nets.”
Anderson said that England appear satisfied that Broad’s participation in the first match of the three-Test series is in no doubt.
He added: “It’s just part and parcel of cricket. You do get the odd knock from time to time.
“Unfortunately, the ball is quite hard – and it was a bad shot. But I think he’s fine.”
Even so, Broad – who was rested for England’s second warm-up win over a Pakistan Cricket Board XI, having proved his well-being in the first – would have benefited from bowling yesterday as well as today.
“It’s not ideal preparation for him not bowling today,” said Anderson.
“But we’ve done plenty of bowling over the last couple of weeks.
Condition
“So we’re in good condition as a bowling unit, and I don’t think Stuart will be too worried.”
Meanwhile, batsman Kevin Pietersen underwent a long one-on-one session with spin bowling coach and former Pakistan player Mushtaq Ahmed as he prepares for the first Test.
England already had much to ponder in the balance of their bowling attack in the absence of Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan.
Without him, Broad is even more crucial to their cause, not simply because of his ability with the ball, but also because of the added security that he offers as a batsman.
Any England side without Bresnan and Broad would not have a very long tail by England’s current standards.
Anderson has made it clear that England’s bowlers will have to both attack and also, in unhelpful conditions, bowl defensively for long periods. It’s a dual role that Broad can perform, but it will test any fast bowler’s fitness.
Meanwhile, England will make no concession to any spectres of 2010 when they set out in defence of their world-beating Test status against Pakistan.
Anderson is insistent that Andrew Strauss’ England will be unfettered by others’ fears that ill-feeling could resurface between these two teams, after three Pakistan players agreed to the bowling of no-balls as part of an attempted illegal gambling coup at Lord’s 17 months ago.
When they take the field at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium it will be the first time – save for a World Cup warm-up match in Fatullah last March – that England and Pakistan have met since the end of that poisonous summer.
Anderson, however, will be making no allowances for what has gone before.
“I’ll go into the game just the same as I would any other game,” he said.
“Anything that’s gone on in the past is in the past. I’ll continue to play the game the way I play it. If that means occasionally getting in the batsmen’s faces I’ll do that.
“From a seamer’s point of view, you can’t lose any of your aggression. We’re going to use any aggression we have to try to make an impression on the Pakistani batsmen.
“Generally we try to let the ball do the talking. But occasionally the verbals do go on.”
Pietersen rejects the suggestion that old grievances between the two teams might return to haunt them and international cricket.
“Our guys have had long chats about this and I don’t think it is going to be a problem with us whatsoever,” he said.
“We are here to play cricket.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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