ENGLAND’S performance in the field yesterday was largely efficient but at the crucial moment they allowed New Zealand back into a game which, at 110 for seven, they should have been well out of. England eased up by failing to keep the field in at a time when the New Zealanders should have been made to battle for every run. A couple of catches went down to boot; one to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose, who probably should have taken it, and one to Paul Collingwood, the captain, which he would normally snaffle. They lacked the capacity to be utterly ruthless and a bowler to maintain the pressure.

The missing bowler was James Anderson. That might sound harsh given that he picked up three wickets out of the top six – including the key one of Brendon McCullum – but his was an up and down day and if McCullum had managed another six inches of elevation on the shot which brought his downfall, it could have been even more of a dog day.

We have said it before and we will probably say it again; Anderson, for all his promise and ability, still has not managed to master his own inconsistencies. By contrast his less experienced and supposedly junior colleague, Stuart Broad, has become one to rely on.

He bowled his overs straight through simply because he deserved to and it says a lot for his composure that at this early stage of his career he seems so settled. He has picked up most of the tricks of the trade already and after each wicket he takes you will probably see him explaining to his teammates just how he did it. At Chester-le-Street there was the mime of the fingers across the seam, all the England bowlers’ favourite variation in this series, and yesterday it was fingers behind the ball for the one that got Ross Taylor.

The way Broad bowled at Taylor was a lesson in how to build pressure on a batsman in a one-day match. Broad knows the way the Kiwi plays and he stopped him doing so by adhering to strict lines close to off stump. By the time he slipped him one of slightly fuller length, Taylor’s frustrations were there for all to see and his attempt to find a gap on the leg side merely opened another more crucial void, through which the ball found its way to the stumps.

Earlier, Broad had a hand in removing Scott Styris. When the allrounder came to the wicket Broad immediately had a short ball waiting for him, one that was dead on line and forced Styris to take hasty evasive action. It was duly noted by Chris Tremlett who, at the other end, tried the same tactic and was able to brush Styris’s glove and claim the dismissal. It served to emphasise that the short ball needs to be directed as well as the length ball to be effective, something that had largely eluded Anderson.

In what seems no time at all Broad has gone from ingénue to wise head on young shoulders. I remember a couple of years ago being asked to interview him at the Cricket Writers’ annual dinner when he was receiving the Young Cricketer of the Year Award. Both his parents were present and his mum had put in the request that someone ask him a few questions rather than put him through the ordeal of having to make a speech. Stuart was fine and found a moment to have a go at his father, Chris, about a lack of dress sense. I would guess that now he would be more than happy to speak for himself, so much has his confidence improved.

That self-confidence is evident on the field. When he and Anderson were called into the team for the second Test in Wellington in March it was a move that the England management stated was based on the need for more energy in the bowling attack. Energy is indeed what you get from Broad.

But you also get a good attitude from him. I don’t think I have seen him downhearted. On days or sessions when things have gone against him, his head has stayed up and you sense he might have respect for the odd batsman but certainly no fear. It is an attitude which will come in handy next summer, when the Ashes are at stake. It shows in his batting too and, dare I say it, we have seen shots this year of which his father would have been proud.

Put all those factors together and you have a good package that will stand him in good stead when the selectors try to make room for a fit Andrew Flintoff. One of Anderson and Broad may have to give way in the Test side for Flintoff. The selectors know they get greater consistency from Broad with the ball and talent with the bat that Anderson does not possess. Even if Anderson has that capacity to do a little bit more in the air with the new ball, one might easily go for the extras that Broad gives you.

As events subsequently showed yesterday you need consistency throughout a team and strength in depth to maintain pressure. In the end those are the things that decide close contests.