Strong gene pool? Check. Born and raised in South Africa? Check. In the form of his life? Check.
Nick Compton would certainly seem to have all the right credentials to play Test cricket for England this summer – either in the vacant number six spot or to replace one of the hallowed top five should the winter travails of say Ian Bell for example extend into the summer Tests against West Indies and South Africa.
Compton is rapidly becoming a bit of a favourite at Reverse Sweep towers. Not only is he in line to become the first batsman to reach 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May since Graeme Hick in 1988 – he already has 715 at a fairly decent 143, but he seems to have a rather splendid sense of humour.
On his famous grandfather, Compton recalled this week “My fondest memory of him was when I was 12 with dad throwing me some underarms in the back yard and I was batting with a high elbow hoping to impress. Denis was sitting on the porch, with the ever-present glass of brandy, and he just said to me: ‘For God’s sake, hit the bloody thing’.
Whilst perhaps even more amusingly he spoke of coming across Kevin Pietersen as a teenager at the KwaZulu-Natal Academy and with timing that Denis Compton himself would have been proud, mischievously quipped “He was there when I was a junior member. I didn’t know him very well but I could hear his voice from quite far away.”
Some things never change, a Compton is scoring runs by the bucket-load and KP still likes the sound of his own voice.
Where next?
Who should bat at six for England?
The mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solved
It's not jealously KP, it's pure and simple indifference
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