Stuart Broad claims that he missed the ECB event due to illness

Broad is expected to lead the attack alongside Anderson against New Zealand

England pacer Stuart Broad has dismissed allegations that he missed the ECB event because of a ‘marathon drinking session’ as reported by the British tabloids. While he admits that he stayed out night longer than he should have been, he stressed that he missed the sponsor-arranged media event only due to illness.

He was supposed to be present at the event organized by the title sponsors Investec alongside teammate Ian Bell and New Zealand’s Grant Elliot, but instead skipped it. He also mentioned that he had apologized to the board and felt that the whole thing was needless especially after what happened between KP and Andrew Strauss last week.

"I wasn't on England team duty but it was probably the last thing the ECB needed in the headlines after the week that's gone on with Straussy and KP," Broad said while writing for a column. "I didn't feel very well for an appearance on Thursday, spoke to the powers that be and decided that moving a bit of the appearance to Sunday and getting home and resting was probably a good option and that's what we did."

"While I admit I'd stayed out longer than I should have done professionally, the reason I missed the Investec event was because I suffered a severe migraine," he said.

"In nine years of playing for England I've never missed an event like this before and I'm very sorry on behalf of Investec and to my team-mate Ian Bell for leaving him to field 50 percent of the questions on my behalf. It was definitely a story the ECB could have done without."