Stuart Broad has indicated that he will consider retiring from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes after the “very disappointing” decision to leave him out of two of three matches in the series.

England’s second most successful bowler has said the tour had not met his “personal expectation” after he was dropped for the opening Test in Brisbane and the Boxing Day game at Melbourne.

Broad said that while his hunger for playing Test cricket had not diminished, the decision not to use him on two of the best “wobble-seam pitches in Australia” had left him considering his future.

Writing in his Mail on Sunday column, Broad said: “The biggest frustration is losing the Ashes, being 3-0 down and feeling like I’ve not really done anything. Not being able, as an experienced player, to influence a series while it’s live is tough.

“There is a long time between now and the tour of the Caribbean in March and I have never been one to make emotional decisions. So I’m not going to make any spur of the moment calls on my future.

“I feel fit, I’ve come back from the calf injury feeling strong and I’m taking wickets in the nets. That’s all I can do given the lack of tour games and the tight schedule.”

Broad became only the 10th cricketer to play 150 test matches when he took to the field in Adelaide but his inclusion along with James Anderson was not enough to prevent a crushing defeat under the floodlights. In the match, Broad claimed two wickets, one in either innings, and conceded 100 runs.

Broad’s omission has become a source of criticism for England captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood throughout the series, with some questioning why he was not picked following his strong record against Australian opener David Warner.

Writing in the Telegraph after Broad was dropped for the Boxing Day Test, Michael Vaughan said: “Stuart Broad should be playing here [in Melbourne], he should’ve played in Brisbane.

“How Stuart Broad is not going to be bowling around the wicket to David Warner on a green top, I just can’t fathom that with the quality that he brings.”

Chris Silverwood tests positive

Elsewhere today preparations for the fourth Test were further affected by Covid after after it emerged that two of the net bowlers at the SCG learned that they had tested positive while bowling at the England batsmen.

The bowlers left as soon as they found out but it left England without any other net bowlers because all the others had to leave as they were deemed close contacts. 

It has also been confirmed that Chris Silverwood, the head coach, has tested positive for Covid making it nine in the England camp to have contracted the virus in the past week. He was already isolating after one of his family members tested positive and has remained in Melbourne. He is asymptomatic and fully vaccinated. He will rejoin England in Hobart for the fifth Test. 

The virus has ripped through England’s coaching staff, with only three available — Graham Thorpe, Ant Botha and James Foster — to work with the players as they somehow look to recover from losing the third Test by an innings.England’s attempt to bring in Adam Hollioake as emergency coaching cover was dashed today when he was identified as a close contact of a positive case.