Broad ruled out of tour with injury

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Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, will miss the rest of the Ashes campaign because of a torn abdominal muscle. He sustained the injury during the fourth day of the Second Test and was unable to take the field yesterday as England pushed for victory.

As an integral part of the side, whose batting has become almost as important as his new ball bowling, the tourists may find Broad difficult to replace in the weeks ahead. The injury will also cause him to miss the one-day series that follows the Ashes, though he is expected to have fully recovered by the time of the World Cup in February.

Broad said with understandable disappointment: "Playing for England in an Ashes series in Australia has been something I've dreamed of for a long time so to have that cut short by injury is devastating. So far the series has been everything I had anticipated and knowing I'll play no further part is quite hard to take. Given the way we had started the series I was looking forward to playing a leading role in England retaining the Ashes but that's not to be.

"Injuries happen and there's nothing I can do about it other than make sure I get stuck into rehabilitation and come back stronger in time for the World Cup next year. This winter is a big one for the England team so my focus will have to shift to preparing for the World Cup."

The England medical officer, Nick Peirce said the nature of the injury meant Broad would be ruled out of the rest of the tour. He will fly home this week for a course of rehabilitation.