Broadly speaking, Colly's men must do better

Stuart Broad is learning fast but the England team he failed to save from defeat at Bristol has taken another backward step.

Nine months ago, Broad was hit for six sixes in one over by India's Yuvraj Singh during the Twenty20 World Cup in India. But, far from turning the raw fast bowler into a nervous wreck, that hammering stiffened the 21-year-old's resolve.

If only England's one-day side could demonstrate the same ability to emerge stronger from nightmarish performances then the target of winning a global tournament - Twenty20, Champions Trophy or World Cup - might be realistic.

But dismal displays like the one which saw them lose to New Zealand by 22 runs on Saturday have been happening for more than decade and show no sign of going away.

Players come and players go, and England occasionally produce a near perfect performance - as happened at Chester-le-Street eight days ago when the Kiwis were walloped by 114 runs. Really good teams, though, scrape the bottom of the barrel only once in a blue moon, not once or twice a series.

Paul Collingwood's side now find themselves locked at 1-1 with the Kiwis, opponents who looked down and almost out a week ago. Suddenly the heat is on the hosts going into Wednesday's penultimate NatWest international at The Oval.

Unlike several of his colleagues, Broad thrived on the pressure at Bristol. Having conceded only 16 runs from eight overs at Chester-le-Street, he was even harder to get away and finished with the remarkable figures of 10-4-14-2.

Then, once England had collapsed horribly in pursuit of a 183-run victory target, he almost rescued them by making a panic-free 17 at No9.

New Zealand were not to be denied, though, and have fought back into the series. Broad said: "After winning, and bowling like they did, they are going to be up for it on Wednesday so we have to put in another performance like the one at Durham."