Stuart Broad cannot afford to curb his competitive instincts, even though he accepts they may one day land him in trouble with cricket's officialdom.

Broad has attracted the disapproving attention of a clutch of high-profile former international players, turned pundits, with a hot-headed streak he concedes he has inherited from his father and ex-England Ashes-winner Chris.

Those remarks extended most recently to an improbable suggestion by one-time International Cricket Council committee chairman Sunil Gavaskar that Broad receives lenient treatment from umpires unwilling to censure him while his father is a match referee.

The 23-year-old knows, however, that his aggression manifests itself in some of his best bowling - and after he had taken six South Africa wickets as England won the second Test in Durban, his captain Andrew Strauss made it clear he does not want to see one of his key players water down his talent.

Broad thinks likewise.

"Everyone knows I've got a pretty passionate outlook on my cricket - and sometimes it does get the better of me," he conceded.

"(It's fine) as long as you don't cross the line and make yourself look an idiot. That's something I've got to be aware of."

Broad has yet to be disciplined but did raise some eyebrows when he questioned the DRS process, before leaving the field when given out lbw in the drawn first Test at Centurion.

He is confident, however, he did nothing wrong.

"I think a lot was made of that incident," he said.

"It was a very relaxed conversation, me just asking how - in 35 seconds to ask for a referral - they [the umpires] were sure they [South Africa] didn't get a signal (from the dressing room).

"There were no raised voices, no swearwords. But I probably should have waited for the tea interval to have that little chat rather than out in the field, where everyone could see it."

He is aware he must balance his natural instincts with what is deemed acceptable behaviour - a line his father famously crossed more than 20 years ago when he knocked over his stumps in disgust in the bicentenary Test at Sydney.

"It's crucial I carry myself in the right way," Broad added.

"It is something I'm aware of, but my youthful exuberance sometimes gets the better of me.

"I hope it won't be to the extent of hitting my stumps down!"

He sees a brush with the law as inevitable at some stage - but does not believe Gavaskar's line of thinking will be born out.

"They're all grown men, aren't they?" he said, referring to international umpires.

"If I do something wrong they'll let me know about it.

"I certainly get treated like everyone else. The fact is I've done nothing to the grade where I should be getting fined or banned.

"You've actually got to do something bad to get banned.

"All I've done is asked a question. I don't think that's ever been against the law.

"When the time comes - and I'm sure it will in my career, unless I get unbelievably better - that I get in a bit of trouble, I'll be treated the same as everyone else."

Until then, Broad will continue to play as hard and fair as he sees fit for England.

"I've got my passion for the game off my dad," he explains.

"I'm just very passionate to win games for my country - and sometimes when things don't go my way, I'll get a little bit narky.

"But I don't see that as a huge problem. When I watch sport I like to see the likes of Wayne Rooney when they show a bit of passion. It shows they really care when they're playing for their club and their country."

Broad made light of another potential problem to play his part in England's Durban victory, which means they today head for Cape Town 1-0 up with two matches to play.

It was at Kingsmead that he was hit for six sixes in an over during the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, yet he returned without fear to the same venue.

Asked how he coped with any negative associations, he shrugged: "I made sure I bowled at the other end!

"It's a very different format of the game - and I can't remember what happened yesterday, let alone years ago.

"It was nice to get six wickets in the game at a ground I didn't have too many fond memories of.

"To have won one of the best Test matches abroad that I've been involved in will certainly diminish the memories I had left of that poor day."

If he needed closure over his initial Kingsmead experience, he clearly has it now.

"It was a pretty brutal way to be introduced to international cricket," he said.

"But I'm pleased the way I've reacted to failures in the past, and it's up to me to keep doing that. It's making me a better international cricketer."