Graham Onions insists he 'deserves' to compete against Bresnan for England Test spot
London, Nov. 8 (ANI)
England fast bowler Graham Onions has insisted that he deserves an England Test spot by right and not by injury.
The Durham seamer has been head and shoulders above the rest in the county game this year and is desperate for another proper crack at international cricket.
However, he must out-do Tim Bresnan in the four-day game that starts against Haryana today to stand any chance of grabbing that first Test berth.
"I just need to push my claim as far as I can. England have certainly got a lot of quality in the seam department. It's up to me to keep pushing, keep improving and when I get the opportunity to play to cement my place in the side," the Daily Mirror quoted Onions, as saying.
"I'd like to think what I've done in county cricket that I've deserved to be on this tour. So if I do play in the first Test I wouldn't necessarily say it's because of injuries," he added.
While a broken back in 2010 following a successful stint in the side the year before put his career on the line, Onions is fit and firing once more, much like Bresnan who has struggled over the past year to shake off elbow trouble that he seems to finally be over.
"From 2009, when it looked, potentially, as if I might not play any more, I wanted to play one more Test and would have walked away a happy man. But of course when you get fit and strong again you want to play as much as you can," he said.
"I'm here on an England tour to a great country to play against some of the best players in the world and that's exciting and I want to play," he added.