For Nick Compton, Nagpur game will be 'Home Test'
England's batting coach Graham Gooch is impressed with Nick Compton's showing so far.
NAGPUR: When Nick Compton visited Nagpur two years back to see his personal batting coach Neil D'Costa, he just wanted to improve.
He didn't think too far ahead then and with England had settled opening combination of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, he didn't harbour any big dream.
Two years later, this talented right-hander has stepped into big shoes of Strauss and so far he hasn't disappointed the England team management.
"I believe he has shown real determination and played an important role while Cook has been batting so well," D'Costa, a former head coach of Vidarbha Cricket Association's Residential Academy in Nagpur, told TOI from Sydney.
D'Costa - childhood coach of Australia skipper Michael Clarke and opener Philip Hughes - as spot on while praising his ward. The 29-year-old has contributed well to the team's cause and England are now verge on creating the history.
If his 123-run opening stand with Cook in the Ahmedabad Test was the statement that England are no pushovers in sub-continent, their 165-run partnership set up the platform in Kolkata. In between, he had a couple of good starts too. He has scored 171 runs at a decent average of 42.75. Most importantly, he never looked out of place in the testing sub-continent conditions.
Nick, a grandson of legendary Dennis Compton, has played for England Under-19 but somehow couldn't make it to the Elite league soon. The word 'Compton' put an undue pressure on him when somebody told him to see D'Costa in Australia.
"In 2008, Nick came to Sydney to work with me and play with western suburbs DCC where I was the head coach. When he arrived, he was playing for second sting team with Middlesex. While we did technical work, most of the work was about finding his self belief. His game was always inside him," D'Costa said.
D'Costa not only helped him improve his technique against pace and spin but also worked on mental aspects. The result was there for everyone to see.
Compton scored runs by tons for Somerset in English County and that paved his way to the national side after Strauss called it quits. The Australian has no doubt that Compton junior will achieve greater things in life.
"His self belief is getting better and his performance so far will have him believing more that he can really perform at this level. I believe he has what it takes to be a long term player at this level and always have," he said.
England's batting coach Graham Gooch too is impressed with Nick's showing so far.
"It's never easy to replace somebody like Strauss. It's still early days for him but he has earned his chance to play Test cricket. Nick has been very successful in the English domestic cricket. He has made the successful start and formed a good partnership with Alastair Cook. That's good for English cricket. We have seen them performing well in the last two Tests and hopefully they do it again in two days' time," Gooch said.
So, when he walks to bat with his captain in the final Test, it would be sort of home Test for this talented right-hander.
He didn't think too far ahead then and with England had settled opening combination of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, he didn't harbour any big dream.
Two years later, this talented right-hander has stepped into big shoes of Strauss and so far he hasn't disappointed the England team management.
"I believe he has shown real determination and played an important role while Cook has been batting so well," D'Costa, a former head coach of Vidarbha Cricket Association's Residential Academy in Nagpur, told TOI from Sydney.
D'Costa - childhood coach of Australia skipper Michael Clarke and opener Philip Hughes - as spot on while praising his ward. The 29-year-old has contributed well to the team's cause and England are now verge on creating the history.
If his 123-run opening stand with Cook in the Ahmedabad Test was the statement that England are no pushovers in sub-continent, their 165-run partnership set up the platform in Kolkata. In between, he had a couple of good starts too. He has scored 171 runs at a decent average of 42.75. Most importantly, he never looked out of place in the testing sub-continent conditions.
Nick, a grandson of legendary Dennis Compton, has played for England Under-19 but somehow couldn't make it to the Elite league soon. The word 'Compton' put an undue pressure on him when somebody told him to see D'Costa in Australia.
"In 2008, Nick came to Sydney to work with me and play with western suburbs DCC where I was the head coach. When he arrived, he was playing for second sting team with Middlesex. While we did technical work, most of the work was about finding his self belief. His game was always inside him," D'Costa said.
D'Costa not only helped him improve his technique against pace and spin but also worked on mental aspects. The result was there for everyone to see.
Compton scored runs by tons for Somerset in English County and that paved his way to the national side after Strauss called it quits. The Australian has no doubt that Compton junior will achieve greater things in life.
"His self belief is getting better and his performance so far will have him believing more that he can really perform at this level. I believe he has what it takes to be a long term player at this level and always have," he said.
England's batting coach Graham Gooch too is impressed with Nick's showing so far.
"It's never easy to replace somebody like Strauss. It's still early days for him but he has earned his chance to play Test cricket. Nick has been very successful in the English domestic cricket. He has made the successful start and formed a good partnership with Alastair Cook. That's good for English cricket. We have seen them performing well in the last two Tests and hopefully they do it again in two days' time," Gooch said.
So, when he walks to bat with his captain in the final Test, it would be sort of home Test for this talented right-hander.
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