Stuart Broad has taken to Twitter to defend his England team-mates from accusations of ball-tampering after screenshots of Rory Burns stepping on the ball while wearing spikes began to circulate on the social media platform.

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Several journalists, including ex-India player Aakash Chopra and BBC commentator Nikesh Rughani, suggested England’s intentions were untoward, and Broad, out of the remainder of the series, took it upon himself to reply to some of those alleging his team-mates were cheating.

His defence, backed up by the video evidence available, is that Mark Wood was attempting to ‘nutmeg’ Burns by kicking the stationary ball between the opener’s legs, but missed, with the Surrey skipper inadvertently stepping on the ball.

“My comments are- Woody tried to nut meg Burnsy by tapping the ball through his legs (a very common occurrence) & he missed and kicked the ball there by accident,” he tweeted. “Instead of screenshotting the pic, watch the video- quite plain & easy to see [sic]”

In reply to another, Broad said, “As I’m sure you’re aware form [sic]  watching the full footage- it wasn’t deliberate was it. End of Story”.

In reply to News9 journalist Subhayan Chakraborty asking why the ball wasn’t changed by the match referee – incidentally, Broad’s father Chris – the England seamer replied, “Depends If it was damaged? Exactly the same if it was hit into the stands. If it didn’t make a mark, why change it?”

Wood is fond of kicking a cricket ball, with his habit of shouting the name of various Newcastle United footballers of the ‘90s while doing so endearing himself to England fans.

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