BIT by bit, David Beckham is giving British children a grounding in anatomy.

During his pre-World Cup injury crisis, schoolboys everywhere became conversant with delicate properties of the metatarsal bone.

Today, the focus has shifted from foot to hand. In yesterday's friendly Becks broke his scaphoid.

Youngsters are wont to copy everything Mr Spice does, including those increasingly bizarre hairstyles. We hope this does not mean our casualty departments will soon be clogged with boys complaining of scaphoid strain.

Updated: 10:22 Friday, May 23, 2003