London: One of England’s most successful pace bowlers Stuart Broad will not travel to Pakistan for the historic three-Test series in the sub-continent as he and his partner are expecting a child in mid-November, said a report in Daily Mail on Sunday.
The 36-year-old, the second-highest Test wicket-taking pace bowler after country-mate James Anderson, has reportedly informed the selectors about his unavailability due to personal reasons.
The report added that England’s training camp in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Pakistan tour will clash with the baby’s due date, because of which Broad has been forced to miss the tour.
England and England Lions will also play a match during the warm-up period in Abu Dhabi and Broad missing it would mean he would not be match-ready for the series, which will be hosted in Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi from December 1.
“Broad is understood to have thought long and hard about his decision, not least because he enjoyed a resurgent summer with England in which he finished as the leading wicket-taker in a Test team that won six out of seven matches,” said the report.
Broad surpassed Australian legend Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 Test wickets in the recently concluded Oval Test against South Africa and is currently on 566 wickets. He now trails his partner Anderson in the wickets column for pacers, who has 667 scalps to his name.
Broad’s 29 wickets in the summer Test season leaves him fifth in the all-time list of highest Test wicket-takers in the world led by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.
Broad could be back for England’s two-Test tour of New Zealand and the 2023 Ashes at home.
Broad’s absence will coincide with the comeback of Mark Wood, who will be part of the pace-bowling battery that will have the likes of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Matt Potts and potentially Reece Topley.
–IANS
Comments are closed.