Broad praised for his reaction to being dropped by England

Head coach Trevor Bayliss has praised Stuart Broad for his attitude after the bombshell decision to drop him from the England team.
Stuart Broad, who has been praised for his attitude after being left out of the England team. (PHOTO BY: Mark Fear Photography)Stuart Broad, who has been praised for his attitude after being left out of the England team. (PHOTO BY: Mark Fear Photography)
Stuart Broad, who has been praised for his attitude after being left out of the England team. (PHOTO BY: Mark Fear Photography)

Broad missed out on the opening fixture in Galle of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka, and with England winning by 211 runs, the Nottinghamshire bowler has a fight on his hands to regain his place.

However, the 32-year-old paceman, who had had been a near ever-present in red-ball cricket for his country for a decade, supported the team management’s decision, which was made to play an extra spinner in the attack. And Bayliss was delighted by how he reacted to being omitted.

“Stuart took being left out extremely well,” said Bayliss.

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“He knew exactly where we were at and who we were going to pick in the conditions we were confronted with.

“He actually said to me he’d have gone with that team as well. He had no worries about missing out.”

Broad became a victim of the call to select three frontline spinners in Galle, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Jack Leach, which left Sam Curran to share the new ball with James Anderson.

Now, England’s storming of the traditional Sri Lankan fortress in Galle has only served to add further selection headaches.

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Ben Foakes, who replaced the incumbent wicketkeeper, Jonny Bairstow, because of injury, scored a century on debut, as well as earning rave reviews for his performance behind the stumps. But the Yorkshireman is now fit again.