Broad was worried he'd lost his teeth

Cricket365
August 17, 2014

England fast bowler Stuart Broad has revealed he wasn't smiling after being hit in the face by a Varun Aaron bouncer in the fourth Test, but was instead checking whether he still had his teeth.

The paceman was smashed in the nose when the ball pushed between helmet peak and grille, and sustained a break in two places. He said he couldn't feel anything at the time though, and all he saw was blood on the pitch.

He wrote in the Daily Mail: "I can remember everything about the incident. People have said 'you were smiling within a minute of it happening'. I wasn't smiling. I was asking one of the India players to check if I still had all my teeth!

"I couldn't feel my face. Everything was numb. The medical team were midway through their lunch when it happened but they were with me in a flash. I was having stitches within five minutes."

BRoad took six wickets in the first innings of that game in Manchester, and England went on to win. He was given the Man of the Match, but didn't have a very pleasant week after that bit of distracting news.

He added: "While I was waiting to be assessed I got a text saying I'd been made man of the match, which helped ease some of the pain!

"I didn't touch a drop of alcohol on Saturday night even though I knew the boys had wrapped it up inside three days but I still woke up on Sunday morning with the worst hangover I'd ever known. I felt so slow in the head and groggy and that continued for two days.

"On Monday I couldn't see the food I was eating because my cheeks were so swollen but we just iced it non-stop and that got rid of much of the swelling.

"I had quite a few balance checks to make sure I didn't have a concussion. The doctor was concerned my vision was hazy on the Sunday. If the game hadn't been wrapped up on the Saturday I don't think he would have allowed me to play the following day."

Broad was declared fit to play in the final match at The Oval, but only had a splint on his nose while training, rather than the full mask he had been rumored to play with.

Broad said: "There was talk of me wearing a splint or a mask but I tried them out in practice on Thursday and the sweat made it really uncomfortable. Test cricket is hard enough without any added distractions.

"I may have to have surgery after the Test. I am going to see a specialist to find out my options."