Door not closed on Compton
England have confirmed Joe Root as captain Alastair Cook's new Ashes opening partner, but insist they have not "closed the door" on previous incumbent Nick Compton.
It was no surprise on Saturday when, as England set out their stall for back-to-back Ashes by naming their squad for the first Test at Nottingham, Compton's name was missing.
The selectors took the precaution of selecting a 13 rather than the more usual 12. But that did not spell a reprieve for Compton, dropped after losing form in the May series at home to New Zealand, but instead opted for Graham Onions as an extra frontline pace-bowling option.
While Compton was restating his case for inclusion - as requested by England coach Andy Flower - as a guest for Worcestershire against Australia this week, Onions did likewise by outbowling both Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan in the Ashes warm-up match against Essex.
The squad announcement is most notable, though, as the moment when England unequivocally demonstrated their great faith in the potential of 22-year-old Yorkshireman Root - fast-tracked up to open for his country, as he has in the past for his county, less than seven months after his international debut.
"Joe will open the batting, but we'll see what happens from then onwards," national selector Geoff Miller told Sky Sports Ashes.
Miller and his colleagues were sufficiently impressed with Root's scores of 41 and 26 at Chelmsford to keep him ahead of Compton, despite the latter making more than 200 runs in back-to-back tour fixtures against Australia for Somerset and then Worcestershire.
Compton complained after those four innings that he did not feel he had been given a "fair crack of the whip" by England, having made two centuries and scored 479 runs in all at 31.93 in nine Tests since first being picked just last November. Miller made it clear that Compton's public acknowledgement of his disappointment will not count against him.
"I absolutely want players to be disappointed that they've not been selected to play for England, when they're round about that kind of quality," he said. "I told him that we've not closed the door on him at all. It's a long, long series - in fact, it's two long series."
Despite his disappointment at being omitted, Compton took to his Twitter account to throw his support behind his England team-mates. He said: "Naturally disappointed (I) am not in the squad but I'm right behind the boys and wish them luck for the series I'll be ready if my chance comes."
