England edge home as Broad suf

AS guest of honour at Old Trafford, Andrew Flintoff opened Lancashire's new conference centre and watched his former England team-mates beat Australia for the third time in six days to clinch the NatWest Series.

Marvellous achievement though it is, every team can improve and it is time Stuart Broad regained the batting form that led coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss to regard him as Flintoff 's heir.

There is little chance of the great allrounder playing for his country again and England have performed so well in Flintoff's absence that he has not been greatly missed.

England in 2010 are ruthless, talented and intelligent, a team proficient enough to compete with any in the one-day game. Yet they would be even more fierce a prospect if Broad could only rediscover his confidence at the crease.

Broad's bowling is still nowhere near the level of his idol -- the Australian Glenn McGrath -- but Baume and Mercier Hampton Milleis Ladies Watch 8477 it has improved to such an extent that he is now one of the most dangerous one-day bowlers in the world.

His batting, however, is a different story. During last summer's Ashes, Broad was excellent with the bat, averaging a shade under 30 and proving he had both the strength of mind and the technique to handle the Aussies' bowling attack.

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The ground was laid for Broad to become England's next all- rounder but it simply didn't happen. Broad left for the tour of South Africa last autumn hoping to occupy the No7 spot in the batting but he now comes in at No9 in Tests and at No10 in 50-over cricket. What more proof is needed that the Nottinghamshire player's batting has gone backwards? Yesterday's one-wicket win over the Aussies at Old Trafford, which clinched the five-match series 3-0, was a case in point. Arriving in the middle with England needing 10 for victory and with only one more wicket in hand, Broad's display was alarming.

The 24-year-old barely managed to lay bat on ball, surviving just five deliveries before he was yorked by Doug Bollinger for a duck. Fortunately for England, Tim Bresnan managed to keep his head and guide his team to a one-wicket triumph with five balls to spare.

It would be hugely unfair to judge Broad's batting solely from this innings but the performance confirmed he seems to be in a downward spiral with the willow. Graeme Swann, the man of the match yesterday, has now leapfrogged him in the Test side's lineup, proving Broad has much work to do to become a genuine all-rounder.

Broad missed the Test series against Bangladesh to follow a strengthening programme the England management believe will make him a more durable bowler for the next Ashes series in Australia this winter. Yet with his batting also needing remedial work, perhaps England should encourage Broad to play for his county at every sexy high heels opportunity.

Broad has batted just twice for Notts in first-class cricket this season and was dismissed very cheaply both times. His crammed schedule has restricted his appearances but, wherever possible, Broad should now seek time at the crease to regain his self-belief.

Happily for Strauss and Flower, Broad's fellow pace bowler Jimmy Anderson appears to be close to his best. The Lancashire man was aggrieved to have been left on the sidelines for England's victorious World Twenty2Replica Watches
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