Manchester: England's Stuart Broad retired hurt after being struck on the nose by a bouncer from India fast bowler Varun Aaron on the third day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Saturday. Broad, in the first over after lunch, had just hooked a couple of Aaron bouncers for two sixes in as many balls. But, trying to make it three in a row, he failed to connect with the ball lodging between the peak of his helmet and the grille. Broad immediately signalled for the England physiotherapist to come on and, after several minutes' on-field treatment, with blood coming out of a nose wound, walked off as he retired hurt on 12, with England then 338 for eight.
Now the question for England was whether fast-medium bowler Broad, who took six for 25 as India were skittled out for 152 in the first innings of this match, would be fit to take the new ball alongside James Anderson when the tourists batted for a second time in Manchester. England top-order batsmen Joe Root and Moeen Ali had also been unsettled by bouncers from Aaron, recalled for this Test by India with the five-match series all square at 1-1.
That was concerning for England ahead of next year's home Ashes series where they are set to face Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, significantly quicker than Aaron. Broad, following his haul of six for 25, revealed he would undergo surgery on a longstanding right knee problem some time after the fifth Test against India at The Oval later this month, with a view to being fit in time for the one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that starts in February.
Credit: Jack Mendel, Vine
