Stuart Broad may wear face mask for final test

New Delhi: Though England have won fourth test and taken 2-1 lead without pacer Stuart Broad who had to leave the field after getting a nasty blow on his face but he would be more than keen to appear for the final test, to be played at oval, even if he has to wear a protective mask.There are examples of athletes wearing mask to ensure their presence in the field after getting injury on face. Footballers Demba Ba and Paul Gascoigne are such examples. The nasty blow Broad took when he top-edged a bouncer from Varun Aaron into the gap between the peak of his helmet and grille during England's thumping fourth Test win looked to have ruled him out of the series climax.Yet Broad, man of the match at Old Trafford, emerged from a Manchester hospital after missing India's startling collapse and ruled out reconstructive surgery before insisting he will be fit to play, complete with a mask, on Friday.‘Little bit sore this morning but not too bad,' tweeted Broad while posting a photo of his face looking very much the worse for wear. ‘Doc did a great job with the stitches. On to The Oval (with a mask).'It certainly came as big boost for England, who on Sunday named an unchanged 13-man squad for their final Test, with Steven Finn retaining his place once it became clear that Liam Plunkett would not return in time from injury.Broad, who took India's six wickets for 25 in the first innings at Old Trafford,, faces an operation on his right knee that will rule him out for four months after this series and desperately wanted to be given the all-clear for The Oval.His injury, on the fastest pitch of the summer, came as he tried to pull the lively Aaron for a third successive six but only succeeded in finding a gap in his modern Ayrtek helmet that will soon be closed by new safety regulations.Broad fell to his haunches and MS Dhoni called for urgent assistance as India's players quickly forgot the animosity between the sides to ensure that their opponent was not seriously hurt. A smile on Broad's face as he was led from the field was a sign that he was bruised but unbowed and he later revealed that he watched eight of the nine Indian wickets to fall spectacularly after tea on Saturday from a hospital bed.‘It was a big impact but if there's no risk we will play him, no doubt about that,' said England coach Peter Moores. ‘It is a big game at The Oval and we want him there. If that means playing with a football face mask so be it. He will have panda eyes. He will look lovely.' Clearly England's medical staff are comfortable that there are no concussion issues with Broad at a time when awareness of the dangers of the condition is increasing, not least because of a Mail on Sunday campaign.Broad's injury follows that suffered by Somerset's Craig Kieswetter this summer when he broke his nose and fractured his eye socket after a ball from Northants' David Willey had managed, like Broad's, to burst through his visor.Cricketers have often lowered the grille of their helmet if they felt it was restricting their vision but new guidelines are set to outlaw that practice, particularly in light of these incidents.Bristol manufacturer Ayrtek claim to employ a ‘unique air-cushioning impact system', with the sharper peak of the helmet making it less likely for the ball to get between the grille and lid. But it did when Broad top-edged Aaron. Now a new British safety standard for helmets will limit the ability of players to adjust their protective grille settings, with a maximum of 55 millimetres recommended.The one disappointment for England after their second consecutive huge victory is that their support seamers did not fully grab their big chance in the absence of Broad and with Jimmy Anderson suffering from sickness and off the field for 35 minutes of the last session.Chris Jordan may have ended the Test with two wickets in two balls, and could have had a third had he not overstepped when dismissing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but he ended up with three wickets in the match while Chris Woakes struck just once, the wicket of Murali Vijay that at least began India's decline.Neither took a wicket in the third Test win and while England want to provide proper opportunities to young players they will consider bringing in either Finn or Ben Stokes to their final Test team.At least Broad and Anderson will be available to carry on one of the best new-ball partnerships in English history, with Anderson now just eight wickets away from overtaking Sir Ian Botham and becoming England's leading Test wicket-taker.The perfect English script sees Anderson breaking the record in an Oval victory with Broad not being restricted by his Phantom of the Opera impression.