Borthwick: England are still in my sights
Chris Stocks discovers that Surrey’s recruit from Durham wants a fast start to keep in the thoughts of the selectors
To say Scott Borthwick’s Test debut was a hospital pass is an understatement.Yet the former Durham player is hopeful a strong first season at Surrey can propel him back into England contention.
Borthwick’s only Test came at Sydney in January 2014 when, at 23, he was pitched into a team who were 4-0 down and went on to lose the final match of an horrendous Ashes series inside three days in a humiliating whitewash against Australia.
Back then Borthwick was selected as a promising leg-spinner in the wake of Graeme Swann’s retirement three Tests into the series. Now, having re-invented himself as a top-order batsman, he is hoping to force his way back into the Test reckoning in time for this winter’s Ashes tour.
Places will be hard to come by given both Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings, Borthwick’s former team-mate at Durham, made promising starts to their Test careers as top-order batsmen during England’s otherwise disappointing 4-0 series defeat in India late last year.
Yet memories of that debut in Sydney and the fact he came so close to a recall midway through last summer have maintained Borthwick’s hunger for an international return.
The Sunderland-born batsman, speaking ahead of his County Championship debut for Surrey at home to Warwickshire today, said: “I don’t want to be a one-Test wonder.
“I’m still proud of my one Test but you want to kick on and have another crack at it. Playing Test cricket is a massive buzz and I was so excited to be in the squad. I’m determined and itching to get that feeling back again.
“But I need to start well here at Surrey and put in match-winning performances so the right people are looking at me and talking about me again. I’m still young and, hopefully, it comes round again.
“The squad is still young – Hameed has come in and Keats has been extraordinary. There is still hope for other young guys who perform well in county cricket.”
Asked what he can remember of his sole Test, Borthwick admits: “Not a lot because it went pretty quickly. I was playing grade cricket and I was meant to be going home before Christmas to then play for England Lions in Sri Lanka.
“It was a quick turnaround and then I played that Sydney Test. I was so hyped up with being in the Test squad and being around an Ashes touring squad that for me it was a bit of a buzz playing in Sydney regardless of the result.
“Again it happened so quickly, it finished inside three days, so I haven’t really got too many memories. It was a while ago as well.”
Borthwick’s strong start to last summer for Durham – coupled with a loss of form for the then No.3 in the Test side Nick Compton – saw him widely talked up as a genuine contender for an England return for the Pakistan series. However, a loss of form at a crucial time saw his chance slip away.
Borthwick, who still averaged 40.76 in Championship cricket last summer, admitted the focus on him then perhaps affected his form. He is also grounded enough not to let that disappointment affect him.
“It was a strange season because I felt like my numbers were decent – over 1,000 runs again,” he said.
“The period when I was talked about, I don’t want to say it bothered me with all the Press and everything but I think I genuinely got good balls. Three games I didn’t score a run when actually it was the time in between the Test series and when I was getting talked about.
“I can’t exactly put a finger on why it happened. I’m not making excuses. It wasn’t to be but I haven’t given up hope yet. I still want to play for England.”
Borthwick’s decision to leave Durham came before the club were relegated as a result of financial mismanagement and given a swingeing 48-point penalty for this year’s Championship campaign. But it wasn’t a decision he took lightly. “Durham is my home town and I’ve been there since the age of 11 so, yes, it was a really tough decision – that’s why it took so long,” he said. “I spoke to Surrey halfway through the season and I didn’t make my mind up until towards the end which shows how tough it was.”
On his former club’s punishment from the ECB, Borthwick, whose fellow top-order batsman Mark Stoneman also moved from Durham to The Oval over the winter, said: “It was pretty sad not just for the club but for the region as well. I’ve spoken to a couple of players and I think they’re over the news now and ready for the season.”
I’m proud of my one Test but you want to kick on and have another crack. Playing Test cricket is a massive buzz and I want that back