Australia vs England 2013/14: Stuart Broad to miss first 2 matches of the ODI series

Stuart Broad set to miss the first two ODIs

England speedster Stuart Broad has been rested for the first 2 matches of the upcoming series against Australia. Broad will be rested for the matches in Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as a tour game in Canberra, to allow him to fully recover from the exertion of the recently concluded Ashes Test series.

The absence of Broad further weakens the English bowling attack which is already missing out on James Anderson, who has returned home for his scheduled break, and Graeme Swann, who announced his retirement in the middle of the Ashes series. Broad was England’s leading wicket taker in the just concluded Ashes series.

This leaves Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan to lead the line for England in the first two ODIs. Finn, whose career has stalled off late, was the only England quickie who did not play in the Ashes, and was seen spending large portion of Friday’s net session consulting with Ashes Giles, David Saker and Alastair Cook.

Eoin Morgan feels that Finn can overcome this stagnation and admits that he was given little chance to show his improvements.

“I haven’t seen very much of him. This has been our first training session as a squad,” he said.

“I know Finny has been working really hard in the Test team and hopefully he’ll make contributions along the way in the one-day series.”

The left-hander does not feel he has joined a squad divided, following the fall-out of the Ashes defeat.

“Absolutely not,” he said, according to aggbot.com.

“The guys are good. We’ve had six or seven fresh faces come into the side who have brought a lot of energy, including myself.

“The guys are chomping at the bit to get involved. We’ve had a bit of time off and young guys coming through are keen to score runs and take wickets.

“A lot of guys are excited to get this series started.”

With the World Cup 2015 to be held in this part of the world, Morgan believes there is little chance of flagging attitudes in any case.

“There’s about 400 days before the World Cup starts and it starts here in Melbourne,” he said.

“It’s really exciting and the platform we build here during this series is really important.

“It’s important that we do learn from any mistakes that we do make, and build confidence down in this part of the world.”