Stuart Broad is waiting to learn the full extent of a mystery heel injury that has thrown into doubt the fast bowler’s participation in the first Test against South Africa next month.
Broad, who turns 31 on Saturday, spent on Thursday morning undergoing an MRI scan on the problem that had forced him to withdraw from Nottinghamshire’s Division Two victory against Leicestershire on Wednesday after sending down just one over in the second innings.
Both he and Nottinghamshire were unconcerned by the injury at first, with discomfort in the area having been managed over the past month after it first arose during a four-day match with Glamorgan. The impact of his heel landing on ground hardened by the hot weather was considered a factor given a scan two weeks ago came back as all clear.
However, an ultrasound after the Leicestershire match followed by an MRI on Thursday has led to one specialist now suggesting that a possible underlying issue exists and requires further exploration. One concern is that it could be a tear in the fat pad of Broad’s left heel and thus the recurrence of an injury that forced him to pull out of the 2012 tour of India.
Broad was already expecting to miss the day-night round of Championship matches that gets under way next week – Nottinghamshire take on Kent at Trent Bridge – but he now faces an anxious wait to see if he can play in the Royal London Cup final against Surrey at Lord’s tomorrow week before the first Test with South Africa on the same ground the following Thursday.
Were he to miss the series opener it would be a serious blow to England as they prepare to play seven Tests in just over eight weeks, with Chris Woakes already out of the first two because of a side strain. Jimmy Anderson has returned for Lancashire this week following a groin strain but Ben Stokes, the all-rounder, has recently been managing a knee injury.
Before England’s thoughts switch fully to Test cricket, two more Twenty20 games against South Africa must be negotiated starting on Friday in Taunton in what is their first match at Somerset’s revamped County Ground since a group stage win against Sri Lanka in the 1983 World Cup.
The comprehensive nine-wicket win at Southampton on Wedneson Thursday, one that came with 33 balls to spare and owed much to a curiously tepid batting performance from the tourists, will still see changes to the XI. Mark Wood, who picked up two for 36, returned to Durham as planned to begin preparations for the day-night county round ahead of a possible Test return.
Craig Overton, the 23-year-old Somerset seamer, has replaced Wood for the remainder of the series but while his home ground would appear ideal for a debut, Surrey’s Tom Curran is expected to earn his first cap. Liam Plunkett could also return while Alex Hales may well be rested in a move that would see the uncapped Dawid Malan come into the batting lineup.
Jonny Bairstow will play his final game before returning to Yorkshire, having picked up the award for man of the match on Wednesday night with an unbeaten 60 from 35 balls.
It was just his third innings in six weeks, having carried drinks during the Champions Trophy up until the semi-final when he replaced Jason Roy, and the latest demonstration that his strong form is unaffected by interruptions.
“I maintain my form by not worrying about it,” said Bairstow, who has to wait until the series with West Indies in late September to discover whether that one-day recall was a one-off. “It’s about being comfortable within yourself and being comfortable in your surroundings. I think I have grown up a lot over the last three years.
“I feel like I’m still learning and it shows that some of my hard work is paying off. I’m at that stage now where I’ve been in and out of the team and had to learn to deal with that which I think is a skill in itself. You’ve got to deal with the fact that you might score runs but the next game you might not play. It is a philosophical way of looking at it even from a Yorkshireman, but it is going all right at the moment.”
England (possible): Malan, Roy, Bairstow, Morgan (c), Buttler (wkt), Billings, Dawson, Plunkett, Willey, Curran, Crane.
