You get the impression around English cricket at the moment that people have a bit of a downer on Stuart Broad. I have heard the comment ‘how much longer before Broad comes under pressure for his place?’ from a few people in recent times. There should always be scrutiny on England players’ places, I have no problem with that, but we have to be careful we do not get confused between Broad the bowler and Broad the batsman. Fact is, in the last 14 Tests Broad has taken 63 wickets at 24 apiece which is pretty good considering he’s been carrying niggles and injuries. So there has not been much wrong with his bowling even though, as I said on Wednesday, he’s not quite at his best following his long lay-off after surgery. Stuart Broad (right) was dismissed for a duck in England's first innings against West Indies in Antigua . Broad will always give you something different even though he can overdo it at times, and has always had the ability to get something out of a flat pitch. I still like the fact that he can turn into the enforcer, as he did before lunch on day three, and that he’s a clever bowler, as he showed on the second day when he rolled his fingers down the side of the ball and dismissed Marlon Samuels with a leg-cutter. Broad and Jimmy Anderson are an outstanding combination, taking 526 wickets between them in the 70 Tests they have played together — a record that has seen them stand comparison with the partnership of Sir Ian Botham and Bob Willis. The 28-year-old has seen his place in the side questioned, but he still produces with the ball . Broad celebrates the wicket of Denesh Ramdin on day three of the first Test against West Indies in Antigua . And they complement each other as we saw again on Wednesday when it was flat and there wasn’t much happening for Anderson. That’s when Broad, with his ability to make things happen, is so crucial for a captain. He has an ability to come up with that magic spell, one that changes the whole course of a match as we have seen him do in big Ashes Tests. He gets under the skin of the Aussies, too, which is never a bad thing. So this downer that I am sensing among the English cricket public clearly comes from the complete demise of Broad the batsman. Not only does he appear to have lost all confidence in his batting but he seems a bit scared, too. Broad said in Australia that he suffered nightmares after being struck in the face by India’s Varun Aaron last summer at Old Trafford, which is something I personally would never have done. Broad admitted he had nightmares about being struck in the face by India's Varun Aaron last summer . Broad can expect to face a barrage of short deliveries from the likes of Mitchell Johnson in the Ashes . Broad scoring a century against Pakistan in 2010 . You can imagine what the Aussies felt when they heard an Englishman saying he was having nightmares about the short ball. No one truly fancies the short stuff but most people do not admit to it publicly. The result is that Broad has become a bit gun-shy, he stays leg-side of the ball and tries to play a shot every delivery. And everybody wants their England cricketers to show a bit of character and fight. It’s not going to be easy for Broad. He is going to have Mitchell Johnson steaming in at him this summer bowling yorker, bouncer, and that is probably going to carry on for the rest of his career. He won’t be seeing too much spin. That’s why Test cricket is the hardest game. There is no place to hide and there’s no let up. Broad will have to solve the problem himself and look at team-mates who have overcome adversity in their career like Anderson and Ian Bell. We described Broad as an ‘all-rounder’ in a graphic on Sky the other day and immediately got some tweets querying that. But that’s what Broad looked like becoming when he scored that big Test hundred against Pakistan. What he needs to do now is sit down with a recording of that century at Lord’s five years ago and watch every single ball to see what he did then. Broad needs to remind himself that he can bat, that he can keep the ball out, and then get in the nets and get someone to hurl short ball after short ball at him. That’s what I saw Michael Clarke doing at the World Cup after he had been bounced out a couple of times. Broad’s batting woes must not affect his bowling as England need him at his best. He shows a lot of character with the ball and is a steely performer. But with the bat he’s showing no character and it’s time he said ‘enough’s enough’.
Stuart Broad was dismissed for a duck in England's first innings.
The 28-year-old has had a complete demise in his batting.
Broad must not let his batting woes must not affect his bowling.
He is still is the enforcer  and combines well with James Anderson.