Perth, Australia: Stuart Broad is determined to keep contributing to England's cause in the Ashes despite being hobbled on Sunday after a Mitchell Johnson yorker crashed into his right foot.
England's leading paceman in the series couldn't bowl or field on day three at the WACA as Australia tightened its grip on the Ashes, but Broad is ready to bat to help his team save the match and hasn't given up hope of playing in the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.
He's waiting for the results of medical scans before knowing the extent of the injury.
"Something showed up on the x-ray but it was a bit inconclusive so had to have an MRI," said Broad, who arrived at a news conference on crutches and wearing a protective boot. "I'm desperate to play a part in the rest of the Ashes series. I won't be bowling tomorrow, but there's a bit of a break in between this test and the next and I'm desperate to be there."
Broad was hit on the right foot, the front foot as he takes his batting stance, as he was trapped lbw for five by Johnson in the first session when England was bowled out for 251 and conceded a 134-run first innings lead to Australia.
Broad said he felt intense pain immediately but tried to practice some bowling to prove he was ok to go back onto the field.
"Obviously I was desperate to get out there and bowl so I had to try it out in the nets," he said. "Normally with a bruise you get a bit of blood but when you get going the pain decreases. It actually increased quite a bit in the nets.
"I wanted to go out and have a (bowling) spell, but the doctor said I had to go for an x-ray."
Broad has 14 wickets in the series to date and has been the most successful bowler on beaten teams in Brisbane and Adelaide. His absence was a massive setback for England as Australia reached 235-3 at stumps, an overall lead of 369.
After having all the momentum on Sunday, Australia will be aiming to declare on Monday and then bowl England out quickly to regain the urn for the first time in four Ashes series.
Broad said it was a bleak day for England, which started by losing wickets in the early overs.
"That started the day off pretty badly," he said. "Australia obviously didn't have a lot of pressure on them when they came out to bat and played very nicely in the attacking way they've played all summer."
Broad, who missed three tests due to injury in England's winning series here in 2010-11, was a key player in England's 3-0 Ashes win on home soil only four months ago. He said there was no way England would surrender the old urn without a fight in Perth.
"We've had numerous tests over the past four years that we've managed to save when we've had no right to save," he said. "There's a lot of belief in that changing room, we're certainly due a score.
"There's a lot of guys with great test records who haven't produced this series so far and are desperate to ... we're hoping things change for us in the second innings."
