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Swann disagrees that Broad needs a rest

Stuart Broad needs some luck according to Graeme Swann © Getty Images

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Graeme Swann has rejected claims that Stuart Broad needs a prolonged rest from international cricket, insisting his England team-mate is just suffering a spell of bad luck.

Broad was left out of the England setup for the decisive fifth one-day-international against Sri Lanka, with Jade Dernbach preferred by selectors. Skipper Alastair Cook confirmed after the match, won by England, that the decision was purely tactical.

That has not stopped speculation that Broad is in need of a rest after a run of unspectacular form, despite his two wickets in the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge. The allrounder returns to Nottinghamshire for a County Championship clash this week, and his form will be heavily scrutinised ahead of the Test series with India, which starts on July 21.

Swann, a county colleague of Broad, disagrees that his team-mate is struggling with the physical demands of an international summer, insisting he merely needs a change of luck.

"I don't think he needs a rest. Broady's a good mate of mine and a county colleague at Notts, he'll go away this week and then he'll be back I'm sure," Swann said on Sky Sports News.

"He's one of the best performers, he barely has a bad day. He's had a lot of bad luck recently. I'll say that for him, it's not excuses; he's not had the rub of the green. But it just takes one day when the Gods smile on you for it all to fall into place."

As for England, the outlook is looking much more rosy after back-to-back wins over Sri Lanka, which wrapped up the series. Now Swann is calling on his team-mates to cut out the errors. "We've got a fantastic team. We won the series against Sri Lanka, which was fantastic. It was a tight game, so we're going places, we just need some consistency."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.