Stuart Broad: mercurial talent or frustrating underperformer?

While Kevin Pietersen may be the one to grab most of the headlines, few England players polarise opinion more than Stuart Broad.

His ardent supporters regard him as a hugely talented - albeit enigmatic - all-rounder who has the ability to change a match single-handedly; his critics believe he is an overrated, ill-disciplined bowler who flatters to deceive.

Every time his place is considered to be in doubt, an impressive performance vindicates Andy Flower's seemingly unwavering loyalty to the Twenty20 captain, but his stand-out displays are ultimately rare and fleeting.

The seamer's brilliant six for 51 in the first innings in Wellington to help skittle New Zealand out for 254 was a timely reminder of his skills and undisputed ability, but it will still not convince everyone that he can consistently produce with the ball for England.

There is a lot about the 26-year-old's game that frustrates the cricket lover: the propensity to protest vehemently with the umpire over decisions; the penchant for reviewing every dismissal he suffers with the bat; the niggly rows on the field with the opposition.

But he is also a very gifted cricketer and a fierce competitor, the latter being a quality distinctly lacking from many other England sides, on the surface at least.

Whatever Broad does for the rest of his England career, he will always be remembered for his sensational spell in the fifth and decisive Ashes Test with Australia in 2009 when he took five for 37 in 12 overs, including four for eight in 21 balls.

But since those heroics it has been a frustratingly stop-start few years on the international circuit for the lanky bowler (note: Cowers has never been caught referring to Broad as an all-rounder), with injuries and sustained losses of form fragmenting his achievements.

Broad’s form has been a running issue accompanying England’s erratic form of the last 12 months with both his batting and bowling in sharp focus.

He claimed his first Test wickets since August in Dunedin, while he has had 16 Test innings since he last made a half-century with the bat in January 2012 against Pakistan in the UAE.

Moreover, despite persistent and perhaps deluded claims that he is an all-rounder, Broad has passed 20 only four times at an average of just 13.60 since January of last year. Indeed, on average he has survived less than 20 deliveries per innings since that point. Given those statistics, a good case could be made to suggest that he is overrated in batting at number eight.

The statistics below demonstrate that his batting has steadily deteriorated over the course of the last two years of his Test career, while his bowling has dropped off markedly since 2011, suggesting that concerns over his form may not be misplaced.

He remains a key part of the England set up and the management continue to say how much they have 'invested' in him as an individual, but the Notts man will continue to divide opinion both with his performances and his character on the field.

It may just be a question of how he is perceived, but for a player contributing so little with the bat, the pressure now on Broad to perform more consistently with the ball is becoming pretty hard to satisfy.

Stuart Broad - Test batting career summary

Test bowling career summary