Look what mean Mitchell Johnson’s sand shoe crusher can do…
England paceman Stuart Broad said yesterday that he hoped to overcome a foot injury to play a further part in his country’s campaign to retain the Ashes, and refused to concede it was doomed.
Mitchell Johnson
Broad was struck on the right foot by Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson on the third day of the third Test, as the match and series looked to be sliding away from the beleaguered English on another scorching Perth day.
He did not take to the field during Australia’s second innings, and headed instead to a local hospital for scans on his foot after briefly trying to test the injury by bowling in the nets.
Broad, who had his 2010-11 Ashes campaign in Australia curtailed by injury, arrived for the press conference at the end of the day’s play on crutches, but still none the wiser about the full extent of the problem.
England’s Stuart Broad is hit on the foot and given out lbw to Australia’s Mitchell Johnson in Perth yesterday. Pics/Getty Images and Pacer Stuart Broad walks across the WACA ground outfield at the end of Day Three of the Perth Test yesterday
The 27-year-old said he would not bowl during the Australian second innings, but was willing to bat in England’s second innings if needed. He said he hoped to be fit for the fourth and fifth Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
“Something showed up on the X-ray, but it was a bit inconclusive, so I had to have an MRI,” he said. “We are just waiting on those results. I am desperate to play a part in the rest of this Ashes series.”
Broad was hopeful that the extended break before the fourth Test, which starts on December 26 at Melbourne, would work in his favour. He is England’s leading wicket-taker in the series, his haul of 14 double that of Jimmy Anderson.
His injury capped a horror day for the English, with Australia leading by 369 runs with seven wickets in hand and two days to play. “It was a bad one, there is no hiding away from that,” Broad said.
Australia will claim the Ashes for the first time since 2007 with victory in Perth, but Broad said the cause was not yet lost.
“We have had numerous Tests over the last four years that we have saved that we had no right to save. There is a lot of belief in that changing room and there is a lot of guys with great Test records in that changing room that haven’t delivered so far but are due to.”
14
The number of wickets Stuart Broad has claimed in this Ashes series
