Ashes 2013: Stuart Broad injury causes concern as Jimmy Anderson overtakes Fred Trueman

Stuart Broad was struck on the arm by James Pattinson (Getty Images)

England hope Stuart Broad will be able to rejoin their bowling attack today after a bruised arm prevented him from taking part in their opening burst at Australia.

Broad was struck by a short delivery from James Pattinson on his way to making 24 in England's first- innings total of 215, and did not take the field at Trent Bridge for the first 21 overs of Australia's reply, which had reached 75 for 4 at the close.

Broad had a cortisone injection in the same area 10 days ago, to ensure he could play in the first Test, but England insist the latest problem is unrelated to that one. He had treatment last night and England planned to assess him this morning before deciding if and when he can bowl here.

Because this is an external injury, Broad would be able to bowl as soon as he takes the field. Without him, the workload of Steven Finn and Jimmy Anderson, who took two Australian wickets apiece, would increase considerably.

"We're hopeful he will be OK, although I don't know the extent of the damage," said Finn, who had Shane Watson and Ed Cowan caught in the slips with consecutive deliveries. "If not, I'd have to bowl a few more overs, but we have other bowlers who could be handy in these conditions. Graeme Swann can also be very dangerous on this pitch and we would have to rotate."

Peter Siddle was Australia's most successful bowler, finishing with 5 for 50, although most of his wickets were brought about as much by poor batting as good bowling.

The evidence of day one confirmed the pre-Ashes suspicion that bowling is Australia's stronger suit, and their pace attack of Siddle, Pattinson and Mitchell Starc looks effective. When England were dismissed in 59 overs after winning the toss, predictions of a 5-0 whitewash of Australia already appeared unlikely to be fulfilled.

Fortunately, England have excellent bowlers of their own. Anderson became England's third-most prolific Test bowler with a beauty to dismiss Michael Clarke. It was Anderson's 308th wicket and moved him ahead of Fred Trueman.

By stumps, Anderson had reached 309 after earning a generous leg- before decision against Chris Rogers. "We have seen Jimmy do that with magic deliveries before," said Finn. "To get the Australian captain like that was exceptional for us and we hope he can do it a few more times in the series. Maybe we just have our noses in front."

Fragile though their batting looked, Australia showed enough to convince their new coach, Darren Lehmann, that they will be competitive. They also plan to attack England's tail with the kind of short-pitched bowling that Broad received from Pattinson.

Lehmann said: "We're really confident. We were pleased to bowl them out for 215 and hopefully the odds [against an Australian win] will come down.

"As for Broad, we don't like to see anyone get hurt but we plan to be quite aggressive with their tail all series. England probably used the new ball better than we did and we need to bat well tomorrow."