Nick Compton career in doubt after England batsman takes a break from cricket

Compton takes a break from the game
Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Tom Collomosse24 June 2016

Nick Compton’s future in cricket is unclear today after the England batsman decided to take a break from the game.

Compton has had a poor start to the summer at both first-class and Test level and was set to be dropped for the series against Pakistan.

But the Middlesex player is now to step away from cricket, with no return date set. Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser, who is also an England selector, told BBC Sport: “Chatting with him and having conversations with people from England, it became clear that he needs a break.

“He is very committed to his cricket, works exceptionally hard, but things are not going as he wants at this time. Physically and mentally, he is not where he wants to be.”

Compton (left) had two spells in the England Test side and scored two centuries but never managed to establish himself. Batting at No3 this summer after a recall for the tour of South Africa last winter, he looked badly out of form and it was assumed he would be replaced even before this decision.

At Edgbaston today, Eoin Morgan was attempting to guide England to a 1-0 lead in the one-day series against Sri Lanka, after Liam Plunkett’s six from the final ball of the match at Trent Bridge on Tuesday delivered a tie.

England are using this series to prepare for next year’s Champions Trophy, which takes place on home soil. England have never won a global 50-over title but with both the Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup taking place in this country, they have a fine opportunity to break that duck.

Meanwhile, Twenty20 cricket deserves a place in the Olympics, according to a leading American official for the Games. ECB chairman Colin Graves expressed the view last year that cricket “should become an Olympic sport in one format or another” and he will be encouraged by the support from one of the sport’s traditional outposts.

Cricket is hardly the national sport of the United States but nevertheless, Patrick Sandusky, the US Olympic Committee’s chief external affairs officer, backs its inclusion in the Games.

“All sports should want to be in the Olympics,” said Sandusky. “Cricket need to do that in their own time but if you think of Twenty20 cricket, it is a very natural fit. If you look at the number of people interested in cricket and the staggering TV numbers when India play Pakistan, there is a huge opportunity for the Olympics.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in