London, Aug. 18: England were given a fright ahead of the final Ashes Test against Australia when pace bowler Stuart Broad appeared to sustain a rib injury during fielding practice here at Oval on Tuesday.

Broad, after taking a diving catch in his right hand, fell awkwardly on his side. He was then treated on the turf before getting to his feet clutching his ribs.

However, after 20 minutes off the field, the 23-year-old Broad returned to the middle for bowling practice.

Broad, whose lower order batting has been a feature of this series, played in the first four Tests of this Ashes campaign, which is currently all square at 1-1 heading into Thursday’s finale here at The Oval.

Meanwhile, allrounder Andrew Flintoff is confident of being fit to round off his Test career.

Flintoff missed the fourth Test because of a knee injury but says he has batted and bowled in training to prove his fitness for the series-deciding fifth Test.

He says he is "probably in a better state" than when he made the team for the drawn third Test.

The 31-year-old allrounder is stepping down from test cricket after the Ashes in order to reduce the strain on his body and concentrate on limited-overs cricket.

— Agencies