Former England batsman Nick Knight has made the case for Stuart Broad to return to England’s One-Day International side against South Africa.
The Sky Sports pundit believes the match-winning partnership between Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock might have been broken, had the Nottinghamshire fast bowler been part of the team for the third game in the series on Tuesday.
England lead the five match series 2-1 despite centuries for both South African openers in the seven-wicket Proteas victory at Port Elizabeth.
And Knight, who played 100 ODIs between 1996 and 2003 averaging in excess of 40, believes Broad could hold the key to securing a series victory for Eoin Morgan’s men.
"It's hard to be critical of the bowling," said Knight. "But they're all inexperienced lads – there was no Broad in there – and these guys are all still learning their trade.
"Amla and De Kock were quite brilliant – the way they constructed their partnership – and it was such a masterclass that you felt that they would chase pretty much anything down.
"It was about whether England could take early wickets, and they couldn't. The bowlers tried absolutely everything, as did Eoin Morgan.
"He tried to rotate his bowlers, but never quite found a combination where he could stymie the runs, push the required-rate up and put pressure on.
"Again that's partly down to the skill of the batsmen, but let's face it, without a Steven Finn, Liam Plunkett or a Broad, Morgan is slightly hamstrung - he doesn't have that extra pace to try and change the game.
"There was a time when some of those young kids, in the heat of the battle out there, need an experienced hand on their shoulder to say 'this is what we're going to try and do, and how we're going to do it'.
"It's no secret – I said it before the series started – I would have gone with Broad. I would have rested him for the last Test, and played him in the ODIs, not all five games, but the first three.
"Ironically, I think he would have bowled really well on that surface, as there was a slight difference between the way the two sides bowled – South Africa had a much taller attack, with the likes of Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada, and Kyle Abbott hitting the pitch just back of a length."
Broad, who is the number one Test bowler in the world following his series winning performances in South Africa, last played ODI cricket at the ICC Cricket World Cup a year ago.
And, although the 29-year-old has missed out on the squad for the World T20, Knight believes now is the time for him to return to the white ball fray in the 50-over format.
"They (South Africa) got a little bit more from the surface. Conditions were in their favour, as the pitch got better, and the England bowlers were a little bit fuller, and didn't have quite the same pace.
"Don't forget, it was a game South Africa had to win to stay in the series, so it was a tremendous performance from two high quality players with a huge amount of pressure on both of them.
"It has set up the rest of the series beautifully going into Johannesburg.
“Broad bowled brilliantly there in the Test match taking 6-17, and I hope they bring him back, because they could knock the series on the head with a win there."
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