Stuart Broad speaks exclusively to ecb.co.uk about his injury and the Ashes series
By Rob Barnett and Dominic Farrell
Stuart Broad will not bowl again in the Perth Test, but has not given up hope of England saving the game to keep the Ashes series alive.
Broad suffered a foot injury when he was lbw to a Mitchell Johnson yorker as the tourists were dismissed for 251 this morning for a first-innings deficit of 134.
The tall paceman was unable to take the field as Australia compiled 235 for three on the back of David Warner’s century, giving them an advantage of 369 heading into day four.
Broad instead went for an X-ray and MRI scan, the results of which have been sent to the UK for examination. He does know already he will not be able to bowl should the hosts, as expected, bat on tomorrow.
However, the Nottinghamshire seamer is willing to bat if there is a chance of England avoiding a defeat that would see them surrender the famous urn.
He told ecb.co.uk: “I went for an X-ray. I got hit on the boot getting dismissed by Mitch and that hurt immediately to be honest.
“I feel pretty positive. I’m obviously desperate to play a part in the rest of this series. I won’t bowl tomorrow; I will bat if required, hopefully on the fifth day.“The X-ray showed something but it was inconclusive so I had an MRI and we’re waiting on the results of that.“I tried to give it a go bowling (in the nets) but it got gradually worse as I was trying to bowl so I went for an X-ray.
“A lot of ice, a lot of treatment, a lot of elevation and hopefully I can bowl another ball in Australia this winter.”
Day three began with England 180 for four, 12 overs before the new ball was due, but Broad soon found himself in the middle and undone by Johnson’s lethal delivery.
He could then only watch as Warner, who made 112, and Chris Rogers shared an opening stand of 157, to which Rogers contributed 54.
However, despite the situation England are in, Broad has not ruled out them salvaging a draw - pointing towards South Africa's remarkable pursuit of 414 for a five-wicket victory on this ground in 2008 as evidence of the WACA surface, widening cracks apart, remaining largely true over the course of five days.
“We’ve seen on numerous occasions over the past three or four years, us surviving Test matches that we’ve had no right to," he said.
“There’s guys in that changing room who are desperate to score some big runs and we’re desperate to stay in this Ashes series.
“We’re going to have to bat 150-odd overs, I’d have thought, to save the game, but it’s do-able. In 2008, South Africa chased 414 to win a Test match here so this wicket doesn’t become dangerous.
“It’s obviously got cracks but if it doesn’t hit the crack it’s pretty good to bat on so we have to keep that positive frame of mind.”
And although the tourists' batting has misfired throughout the series to date, Broad claims proven Test-match pedigree within England's squad fires a belief that a famous escape is possible.
“It’s up to the players in that changing room to put their hands up and get a score because I think that once one guy gets a score the confidence will filter through the rest of the line-up," he added.
“There’s proven Test records in that changing room, so there’s a full belief that we can do something special.”