Ashes 2021-22 | Broad and Anderson fit and ready for second Test, confirms Silverwood

James Anderson And Stuart Broad, who are Test cricket’s leading wicket-takers among current bowlers with 632 and 524 scalps respectively, were rather surprisingly excluded from England’s XI for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, which the visitors went on to lose by nine wickets. Interestingly, Anderson was excluded from the initial 12-member squad named ahead of the series opener.

England had Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson as their three frontline quicks in Brisbane, to go with the left-arm spin of Jack Leach. Leach went for 1/102 from his 13 overs, and his selection prompted debates and criticism from experts and fans alike.

"Stuart has been great, to be honest," Silverwood said. "Obviously he was disappointed not to be playing but he understood that this is a long series. Everybody will put their hand up to do the hard work out there and he is ready to do that now. We had good conversations with Stuart before any decisions were made and he was 100 per cent on board.

"I've not told anyone they are playing yet. We will have some sore bodies from this Test and we'll make decisions from there."

"We had a good chat in the dressing-room after," he said. "There are obvious areas we need to improve on, such as holding our catches and building big partnerships. Obviously they were hurting, but there is belief they can win this series. We have been in this position before. We have gone 1-0 down and then bounced back. We have the players here that can match the Australians. The confidence is there that we can compete with Australia, and that's exactly what we intend to do.

"What hurts the most is the Test championship points, because we are competing to get in the final," said Silverwood. "It was our first Test for a while, and we had not had that warm-up game, so the guys were not used to getting around all the time, and it was hot out there. It is something we will talk about. There is no hiding from it."