Keaton’s keen to press Test claims
KEATON Jennings is hoping he will have a chance to press his claims for another England call this summer.
After just over a year out of the Test team, the Lancashire all-rounder was recalled to the squad for the tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year.
However, before the series began, the ECB made the decision to fly the party home as the coronavirus pandemic was starting to spread.
In hindsight, Jennings knows it was the correct decision. However, it left the 27-year-old frustrated at being unable to add to his 17 Test caps.
All cricket has been suspended until July 1 at the earliest - and there are no guarantees there will be any county or even international cricket this summer.
“It is extremely frustrating,” he told M.E.N. Sport. “I was 10 days into a Test tour with England in Sri Lanka, a tour I was excited to be a part of, and then it was ripped out from beneath me.
“Then you are facing potentially a worst case scenario of no cricket at all this summer, or July at the earliest.
“It is incredibly frustrating, but in the end life is bigger than cricket. One thing that has given people perspective is that things happen in life bigger than the game.
“There were only one or two cases of coronavirus in Sri Lanka at the time, so it was a massive decision to make, but in hindsight it was a no-brainer. That’s a great tick in the ECB’s box to take a stand and look after the safety of the players. But it is naturally frustrating because you are back in the fold, part of an important and exciting
Test tour and then you have to go home before it even starts.
There was a suggestion Jennings was recalled to the Test squad because of his past impressive record in the sort of conditions England expected to face in Sri Lanka.
However, he is desperate to get back out on the field this summer to show he is worthy of a Test place regardless of the location.
Said Jennings: “I wasn’t surprised (to get called up), I was happily relieved. I never read too much about squad selections because you can get yourself onto a massive emotional rollercoaster and mental turmoil at times when you believe everything you read so I stay isolated from it.
“But it was massive to be back in the fold. I loved it. They are a great group of lads and a really exciting team to play for, never mind the fact it is the national team which is where every kid and every young person wants to play.
“Hopefully the opportunity will come again and we will get a chance this summer to play and score some runs, then you never know what happens.
“I am fairly relaxed in that if there is no Championship cricket this season then there is nothing I can do about it. All I can do is try and get better.”