Sam Hain insisted he is finding fulfilment from enjoying his cricket with Warwickshire again, rather than being consumed about whether he will be given a chance with England.
Hain boasts the best List A average of all-time by an English batter, while his red-ball numbers have shot up since the start of last year with 1,573 runs at 65.5 in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
A call-up for next month’s Test against Ireland might have been a stretch but Warwickshire recognise his continued omission, tweeting: “It appears the #HainTrain heading to England Selection is delayed.”
England’s middle-order is vaunted across all formats and Hain, who has represented the second-string Lions for many years, adopts a pragmatic outlook and says his only priority is on what he can control.
“Of course I’d love to play for England but it’s not my sole focus,” he told the PA news agency. “My sole focus is to enjoy my cricket and win games for Warwickshire. If I can do that, I’m happy.
“There’s plenty of cricketers on the county circuit who have been on the fringes. I’m very much aware of how strong the England men’s Test side is, the men’s white-ball side have just won a T20 World Cup.
“I’ve really made peace – I’ve tried to go the other way of really wanting to play for England and just found I got lost in the process rather than just try to enjoy it and then whatever will be, will be.
“My downfall was reading every article, I was looking at what people were saying and I got caught up in my own hype a little bit, especially at 18, 19, 20. At 27, I’ve come full circle again where I don’t worry about what people are saying.”
One of his mentors in former Warwickshire team-mate Jonathan Trott did not make his England debut until the age of 28, before going on to play in three-Ashes winning series, earning 52 Test and 68 ODI caps.
There are similarities between the pair. Hain in List A cricket, a format he has not consistently played since the Hundred’s inception, often eschewed risk, preferring instead to rotate the strike while his first-class strike-rate of 45.05 might not find favour with Ben Stokes or Brendon McCullum.
“People make me aware of my List A stuff,” he added. “As a player, I’ve improved from then so I’d like to think I’m not the List A player that I used to be. Cricket has changed in that time.
“Just look at the way Test cricket is now being played. If you don’t go with the times then you get left behind.
“It’s all about strike-rates these days but within that you’ve still got to win games for your side, so I guess it’s just trying to find the right balance between the two.
“It’s each to their own and up to the individual how they want to go about it. What does your team need? If you’re 30 for four, what does a team need? It’s a question I ask myself when I’m batting.”
Hain, who has two centuries in five championship matches this season, is set to switch his attention to the Vitality Blast, which starts on Saturday at Edgbaston with a double header as his Birmingham Bears take on Yorkshire after Derbyshire face Lancashire.
Moeen Ali will captain them this year after joining from Worcestershire although he will be unavailable for Saturday’s ‘Blast Off’ event due to his Indian Premier League commitments.
“I think we’re quite blessed to have Mo as captain,” Hain added.
“We’re building a side that’s going to play exciting cricket but also there’s a lot of experience. In those big, high-pressure moments those guys have been there and done it.”
Pakistan thrash Zimbabwe behind Ayub ton to level ODI series
Saim Ayub made a 53-ball century and Abrar Ahmed took four wickets on debut as Pakistan trounced Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to level the teams' ODI series at 1-1 on Tuesday.
Having lost a rain-hit opener by DLS method on Sunday, Pakistan raced to victory in the second match in Bulawayo, thanks in part to a brilliant display of spin bowling.
New boy Abrar was the pick of the bunch among their attack, finishing with figures of 4-33, while Salman Agha took 3-26 as the hosts were skittled for 145 runs within 33 overs.
Dion Myers top-scored for Zimbabwe with just 33 before being trapped lbw by Salman, with five home batters not even reaching double figures as their innings unravelled.
Any hopes that Pakistan's Sunday struggles might reappear were swiftly eradicated when the tourists took up the bat, with Ayub (113) teaming up with fellow opener Abdullah Shafique (32) for an unbeaten stand of 145.
Ayub smashed Sikandar Raza's delivery for four to get Pakistan over the line in just over 18 overs, making Thursday's final ODI a series decider.
The teams will then face off in three T20Is, with the opening match of that series, which is also being staged entirely in Bulawayo, set for Sunday.
Data Debrief: Ayub the best of the rest
Ayub's century was the fastest ODI hundred ever made by a Pakistan player excluding the legendary Shahid Afridi.
The latter's record stands at 102 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1996, while he also hit a 45-ball ton against India in 2005.
Greaves hits unbeaten ton as West Indies dominate Bangladesh
Justin Greaves hit an unbeaten century – his first red-ball ton – as West Indies ended day two of their first Test against Bangladesh with a commanding 410-run lead.
Greaves resumed alongside Joshua Da Silva with West Indies 250-5 after day one in Antigua, eventually slamming 115 runs off 206 balls faced as the hosts established a dominant position.
His steady knock ensured the Windies recovered nicely after slipping to 261-7 early on, while Kemar Roach hit a career-best 47 through four defiant hours at the crease.
Hasan Mahmud took three day-two wickets for Bangladesh, including that of Roach, as his short delivery angled in to clip the top of middle stump.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite declared to put Bangladesh at the crease late on, and there was no respite for the tourists against the hosts' four-man pace attack.
Zakir Hasan fell to Jayden Seales for 15, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged Alzarri Joseph for five shortly after being dropped, leaving Bangladesh 40-2 at stumps.
Data Debrief: Career-best for Greaves
Greaves' unbeaten 115 marked his first century in Test cricket, surpassing his previous best knock – a score of 33 versus Australia in January – by some distance.
His strike rate of 55.83 on Saturday, while steady, also bettered his effort of 55.00 during that match in Brisbane. Thanks to his efforts, Bangladesh have a real mountain to climb on day three.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
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