Anderson and Broad are ‘fit and ready to go’ – admits Silverwood

England head coach Chris Silverwood has hinted that James Anderson and Stuart Broad will be back to lead the Ashes fightback in Adelaide, with the pair “fit and ready to go”.

The decision to leave out the two leading wicket-takers in the country’s history for the series opener at The G abbaproved divisive among fans and pundits alike, with concerns over Anderson’s match sharpness and Broad overlooked in pursuit of a more varied attack.

England’ s heavy nine-wicket defeat in Brisbane could hardly be pinned on the bowlers,with a first-innings total of 147 and a day four collapse effectively settling matters, but with pressure building and backs against the wall it seems inconceivable that the veteran pair will not re-enter the fray.

The second Test is a day/ night affair under floodlights and both men have used the past few days to hone their skills with the pink Kookaburra that will be used.

Silverwood stopped short of confirming they would be in the X Ion Thursday, but admitted there was nothing holding them back after four days of tuning up in the nets.

“We’re lucky we’ve got two England greats in Broad and Anderson, so we’ve got a wealth of experience ,” he said.

“Jimmy will be fit and ready to go for the Second Test, as will Stuart. Yes, they are available. Certainly, from an experience point of view, with the bowlers we’ve got heaps of experience so I’m happy with that.”

Broad gave a memorably angry television interview when he was left out of the first Test of the 2020 summer, using his frustration to spur a superb run of form on his recall.

This time, though, he has re acted with disappointment rather than rage and used his Mail on Sunday column to say he was not minded to“kick up a stink”.

“Stuart has been great, to be honest, obviously he was disappointed not to be playing but he understood that this is a long series,” explained Silverwood.

“Everybody will put their hand up to do the hard work out there and he is ready to do that now. We had good conversationswith 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.”