Sam Robson believes he’s in a better place to play for England now – but he’s not sweating over whether or not he gets called up.
The Middlesex opener has once again made a case for inclusion in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley next week with three centuries at Lord’s already this season, the latest an unbeaten effort on Day Two of the current County Championship match with Nottinghamshire at Lord’s.
It’s almost two years since the Australian-born right-hander was discarded from the top of England’s order amid claims he was struggling to locate his off-stump against the world’s best fast bowlers.
He says there have been tweaks since then which mean he will be better equipped if named in the squad by the selectors later this week.
However, he maintains his priority is still winning games for Middlesex.
“There are a few things I have worked on over the last 6-12 months I thought I needed to try and address and put right”, he said.
“They were not massive things and I feel in a good place at the moment, but having said all that three or four weeks ago I just wanted to try and get off to a good start and have a good year for Middlesex, so I’m not thinking any differently to that really.”
Evidence suggests his tweaks are bearing fruit as, albeit on as slow a Lord’s track as the 26-year-old can remember, Robson repelled the threat of England strike bowler Stuart Broad and the rest of an in-form Notts attack to rescue the hosts from 49-3.
So docile was the wicket, opposing skipper Chris Read had Broad bowling with no slips, but a ring of close fielders including short mid-on and mid-off in a vain attempt to break a stand of 154 between Robson and wicketkeeper John Simpson before bad light and rain forced an early finish.
The pair have power to add tomorrow weather permitting and while Robson believes they have perhaps tipped the scales in their favour they can’t afford to get ahead of themselves.
“The wicket is very low and slow, probably one of the slowest ones I’ve ever played here at Lord’s so it was a day of attrition, with a lot of catchers in front of the bat and things like that,” he added.
“We lost a couple of quick wickets, but John played outstandingly well and thankfully we were able to put a partnership together and are in a decent position now.
“Apparently there is a bit of bad weather about tomorrow, but we are still 150 behind so we have still got a lot of batting to do and then we’ll just play it by ear.”
