Stuart Broad has been recalled to the England squad for the fourth Ashes 2021-22 Test in Sydney, bolstering the bowling assault. Ollie Robinson, who has taken nine wickets in the series so far, has been ruled out owing to a shoulder injury, the team revealed on Wednesday (January 4). Despite getting bowled out for 68 in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test, England’s batting lineup has remained the same.
Broad’s participation will provide a boost to England’s attack, which also includes Mark Wood, James Anderson, and spinner Jack Leach.
“We felt like it was too much of a risk to go in with a couple of lads who are carrying niggles,” England’s assistant coach, Graham Thorpe, said. “So, therefore, it was right to bring Stuart back in.”
In his piece, the experienced bowler voiced his disappointment at being left out of the two Tests in Brisbane and Melbourne, with only one chance in Adelaide. After being on the bench for the entirety of the series, Broad felt he couldn’t contribute or do anything to prevent England from losing the Ashes 0-3 to Australia.
“I hope we’ve got a couple of caged tigers coming into this match, Ben being one of them and Stuart Broad another,” Thorpe said. “Getting the players into the right frame of mind is important. I think they want put in a performance for themselves and collectively for the team.”
For the Sydney Test, Thorpe has taken over from head coach Chris Silverwood, who was unable to travel with the squad from Melbourne after testing positive for COVID-19.
“Preparations have been tough … we’ve had the distractions of COVID, which have been challenging to say the least,” Thorpe said. “But we also know that we haven’t played good enough cricket when we’ve been out in the middle either. We’ve got an opportunity this week at a great cricket ground to put in a really good performance.”
England Men’s XI for third Ashes 2021-22 Test: Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Follow MadOverCricket for the latest cricket news, cricket match updates, live cricket scores, cricket series updates, and more!
