The Compdog Has His Day

When he is bowling at his potent best, cricket commentators have recently begun to talk about Dale Steyn's 'angry eyes'. There is a certain look that the cameras occasionally catch that is bound to strike fear into the hearts of anyone in the vicinity holding a cricket bat. I wonder whether something similar should be bestowed on Nick Compton. It's not anger his eyes convey however, but determination.
I'm not totally sure why exactly, but I really like Compton. I'm not a Somerset fan and he's not a particularly exciting player to watch, although technically very correct. Maybe it's the surly grimace that seems permanently etched on his face whenever he is out in the middle. Either way, I was delighted when he reached his first Test century on the 4th day of the First Test. The circumstances that he made it in make his achievement all the more impressive and he, as well as many others, will hope that this will be a real watershed moment in his career.
At the age of 29, Compton will have known that his first chance at international cricket will also be his last. Making your debut at this relatively greater age is not necessarily a hindrance, as is evident by the prolific career of the recently retired Michael Hussey, who debuted for Australia at an even greater age but there is always that extra pressure of knowing that you are virtually starting off in last chance saloon. Ally to that the fact he's had to cope with both the inevitable comparisons with his grandfather Denis when he debuted and more recently the growing calls for him to be replaced by Joe Root following the latter's impressive start to his fledgling international career and you have a difficult set of circumstances to start off in. Despite displaying for his first sixty balls or so the characteristic tentativeness we have become accustomed to in his brief career thus far, and showing frenetic nervousness in the nineties that will have had his captain half-expecting only the second runout of his first class career, Compton deserves nothing but commendation for showing the immense mental strength required to score his maiden ton only two days after making a utterly unconvincing four ball duck.
His success is also a massive fillip for the County Championship, still considered by many to be the best domestic first class competition in the world, although perceived to be not quite as full of top-quality cricketers as it once was, as was evident by the massive hype around the arrivals of Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting for the coming season. In an era where prospective England players are identified at a young age and blooded through the Lions and the Performance Programme sometimes at the expense of playing for their counties, it is refreshing to see that the Championship is still an effective breeding ground for Test-class players. Its raison d'etre is of course to provide a good England team, a philosophy that the FA could learn a lot from, and recently it has contributed most notably through the success of Jonathan Trott. Trott made his debut at a similar age to Compton, in circumstances that were vastly different although no less testing, and if Compton goes on to have a career anywhere near as prolific as Trott the County Championship can be very satisfied with itself.
Having scored that first hundred, I hope that Compton will have the confidence to dispense with the nervous tension that he shows for a long time at the start of an innings and begin to relax at the crease, having proved that he is capable of being there, whilst retaining the determination and concentration that seem so ingrained in him. The best opening partnerships roll off the tongue nicely - Hobbs and Sutcliffe, Hayden and Langer, Greenidge and Haynes. Cook and Compton has that ring to it and we could get used to hearing it over the next few years.