Lyth rekindles ambitions of England call-up

England’s failure Down Under has given young county cricketers renewed hope that the selectors might look to them to help rebuild the national team, according to Adam Lyth.

The 26-year-old Yorkshire batsman got as far as the England Lions three years ago but failed to progress any further.

A prolific run-scorer on his day, he has failed to show enough consistency to keep the selectors’ eye trained on him. For all the disappointment he felt at England’s struggles in Australia, it has at least rekindled his belief that a good summer with Yorkshire might result in a future in the ever-changing England landscape.

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“If you start the season well and step the runs up, they might look to you,” said the Whitby-born left-hander.

“It’s the same for a bowler, you take a few five-fors and it catches the attentions of the selectors.

“I need some hundreds and some big hundreds. It gives me great hope that there are changes ahead, so fingers crossed I can do that.

“First and foremost for me, though, it’s about getting runs on the board for Yorkshire.

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“There’s nothing I can do about who they pick, I’ve got to stay in the Yorkshire team and get runs and if I do that they might look my way.

“But I’m not looking too far ahead, to be honest, I just want to get runs for Yorkshire and do as well as I can here.”

Lyth has watched with great interest the fluctuating fortunes of the White Rose county’s quartet of England representatives over the winter.

He believes that none of them will have been tainted too much by what has been a sobering campaign.

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“I know them all well, they’ll want to come back and start putting things right straight away,” added Lyth of Tim Bresnan, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Gary Ballance.

“The batsmen especially will want to get as many runs as they can to force their way back into the team, and I’m sure they will do that.

“They’ve all got to come back and score runs and take wickets. Jonny has to do well with the gloves as well. They’ll know they’ve got to do that.

“Gary has looked really solid and, hopefully, he can continue that in the one-day series.”