Middlesex batsman Nick Compton believes scoring runs in county cricket can still lead to him regaining the England Test place he feels he deserves.
The 31-year-old opener rejoined Middlesex from Somerset in the summer and says he still harbours international ambitions.
Having been discarded by England ahead of the 2013 Ashes series, despite scoring two Test centuries on the tour of New Zealand that winter, Compton remains determined to prove the ECB selectors wrong.
He said: “I believe that if I’m playing good cricket I should be in that side, there’s no doubt about it.
“I was disappointed to have lost my place but that’s dead and buried.
“I really want to maximise the opportunities I’ve got over the next three, four or five years and hopefully if things go well here I can get back in the England team.”
And despite not being selected for the last two Ashes campaigns, Compton gave strong hints he feels he is the man to stand up to Australia’s battery of fast bowlers when they tour again this summer.
“There’s some tough series coming up and as someone who prides themselves on playing quick bowling, I would hope that I am in the selectors’ thoughts,” Compton said.
His next opportunity to impress the England hierarchy comes, aptly, at Taunton when Middlesex take on his former side in a four-day County Championship match, beginning on Sunday.
Compton spent five years at Somerset and, although he insists he made the right decision to return to Lord’s, he still rates his old team-mates very highly.
He said: “When I went down there, it was definitely the best cricket team I’d ever played in, with the likes of Marcus Trescothick, James Hildreth, Craig Kieswetter, Jos Buttler and Alfonso Thomas, who is one of the best bowlers I’ve ever played with.
“It was, for me, the catalyst to going on and achieving greater things.
“There was a time there where I could have gone either side of the fence and I’m glad I got my head down and really learned my trade. It’s great to be saying now that I have played for England.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time down at Somerset and obviously owe a huge amount to them.”
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This post was last modified on 24/04/2015