Stuart Broad has apologised to the England & Wales Cricket Board for missing a sponsor’s event after a reported drinking session with former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Broad, 28, played down Thursday’s incident, saying: “It was probably not as bad as it was portrayed. And I woke up with a migraine.”
The Nottinghamshire pace bowler added: “I wasn’t on England duty for the ECB.
“But I did apologise for putting them in that position.”
According to reports, Broad returned to his hotel at 7am on Thursday and was unable to fulfil the sponsor’s engagement two-and-a-half hours later.
Batsman Ian Bell deputised for the his team-mate at England Test sponsor Investec’s launch of the New Zealand series on Thursday.
“After the week they’ve had with Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen, it was probably not what they needed,” admitted Broad.
Ex-England skipper Strauss, newly installed as the ECB’s director of cricket, said on Tuesday that batsman Pietersen, sacked by England in February 2014, would not be recalled this summer because of a “massive trust issue”.
Broad added that he had not discussed Pietersen’s omission with his team-mates and backed the management’s stance on the issue.
“I’ve genuinely not spoken to anyone above me or to anyone in the team about Kevin,” he said. “As a player underneath Strauss you have to back the selectors and Strauss for making the decision.
“Only time can tell if that was the right decision. If we lose the Ashes, there will be a lot of pressure. We can only wait and see.”(BBC Sport)