EVER since Troy Cooley, England’s Ashes-winning bowling coach, returned to his native Australia two years ago, England have been trying to rediscover the art of taking wickets with the “old” ball.

Cooley’s departure coincided with the break-up of England’s four-pronged pace attack and prompted much debate among his successors as bowling coach, Kevin Shine and Ottis Gibson about how England could take wickets in the awkward middle period of an innings when the ball softens and loses its early cherry-red sheen.

Cooley’s expertise in passing on the secrets of reverse swing to the likes of Andrew Flintoff was one of the cornerstones of England’s Ashes success. Since then, as Simon Jones and Flintoff have struggled for fitness and Messrs Harmison and Hoggard for form, the middle overs have often proved a source of frustration.

And nowhere has this frustration been more apparent than at Lord’s where England have drawn their past five Tests. And in each case England have dominated the Test but been unable to finish off the opposition. And costly misses they have been: in 2006 Flintoff’s 51-over slog in the second innings against Sri Lanka sparked the ruinous saga of his perpetually injured ankle; a year later, England’s failure to finish off India left the door open for the tourists to seal a series victory in the next Test.

England are still searching for a reverse-swing king which is why Jones – and Flintoff of course – must fancy their chances of a recall. There were worrying signs during South Africa’s 42-run stand for the eighth wicket that finishing teams off remains a problem.

But what did emerge was further evidence of Stuart Broad’s burgeoning all-round talent. Having had success with the new ball, his fellow pace bowlers had started to struggle as Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers began to rescue South Africa’s innings.

Broad, though, bowling a ball that was 67 overs old produced immediate and remarkable bounce out of a placid pitch that the much-vaunted South African fast men had failed to utilise. Broad’s first ball of a third spell surprised Mark Boucher who played on as he tried to take his bat away. Later in the over he extracted lift to pass Morne Morkel’s bat.

There was variety, too. A slower ball drew Prince into a mistimed drive that fell just short of Ryan Sidebottom at mid-off.

Broad spoke before the Test of England’s seamers ensuring that they did not get sucked into a speed war with their South African counterparts. That did not happen, partly because, other than Morkel, the South African bowlers were so ineffectual.

But Broad’s value to the side, as he showed on Friday, extends beyond intelligent pace bowling. His innings of 76, his highest Test score, was overshadowed by Ian Bell’s 199 but it was a performance of equally exciting consequences for England supporters.

Broad looks like a batsman, which in some respects he is. Reminiscent inevitably of his dad, Chris, he was considered more of a batsman than a bowler when he caught Leicestershire’s eye in his mid-teens. Roles have been reversed since but his batting genes remained evident.

As certain members of England’s 2005 bowling crew return to form and fitness and the competition for places hots up, so Broad is fighting tooth and nail to make himself indispensable.