England Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad said consistency of selection would be vital if his side were to regain the world title in Bangladesh next year.
Broad was a member of the England side that beat Australia by seven wickets in the 2010 World Twenty20 final in Bridgetown in Barbados — still the only major global limited overs title England have won.
But it was under his leadership that England failed to reach the semi-finals of the most recent edition, in Sri Lanka last year.
England got off to a bad start in their Twenty20 series against Australia, losing the first match by 39 runs at Southampton on Thursday as Aaron Finch smashed their attack for a Twenty20 international record 156. However, the selectors named an unchanged side for Saturday’s finale in Durham and were rewarded for their show of nerve with a 27-run win that saw England level the two-match series at 1-1.
England only have seven more matches before next year’s World Twenty20 and Broad, speaking after Saturday’s success, said stability in selection could only bolster the team’s prospects.
“Certainly at the international level I’ve found during my career that if you get a bit of consistency in a team and feel backed as a player then you are going to perform,” the fast-medium bowler explained.
“You saw England in the 1990s, they chopped and changed. You don’t see the full potential of players.
“If you give them a proper run and they feel safe in their position then you will prosper from that,” added Broad, the son of former England opening batsman turned match referee Chris Broad.
England’s victory on Saturday was built on man-of-the-match Alex Hales’s 94, the cornerstone of a total of 195/5.
However, there was a sense of frustration for Notinghamshire opener Hales as he again narrowly failed to become the first England batsman to score a Twenty20 international hundred, having made 99 on his Trent Bridge home ground against the West Indies last year.
Saturday saw him eyeing three figures once again only for the 24-year-old Hales to hole out in the deep off James Faulkner in the penultimate over.
“If someone offered you 94 at the start of the day you’d definitely take it,” said Hales following his sixth fifty in 21 innings at this level. They bowled pretty well at me and I didn’t really get going once I got past 80. I was a little bit frustrated not to get over the line.”
Broad, however, was delighted by his county colleague’s effort.
“If you get one of your top three to get 90 like ‘Baz’ did today then it’s what you want,” he said.
The selectors’ decision not to disturb the opening partnership of Hales and Michael Lumb by calling-up Hampshire’s in-form Michael Carberry was vindicated on Saturday by the pair’s first-wicket stand of 111. Someone else who gained from a show of faith was Jade Dernbach.
His return of none for 87 in 10 during the second one-day international against New Zealand at Southampton in June cemented his status as the most expensive bowler in ODIs, with the Surrey seamer’s economy rate of 6.35 leaving him well clear among those who’ve sent down at least 1,000 deliveries.
England though have continued to back the 27-year-old at Twenty20 level and Saturday saw him take three for 23. “He has shown his skill in Twenty20 cricket on two pretty good batting surfaces,” Broad said. “The rest of our bowlers can look at that — something different skill-wise.