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Test hopefuls still searching for form

Initial county rounds offer England selectors with little encouragement as contending batsmen fail to fire

The batsmen England need to find form to make amends for a miserable recent pair of Test tours have begun the County Championship in spluttering fashion.

As ECB director of cricket Andrew Strauss lamented trips to Australia and New Zealand that yielded two draws and five losses in seven Tests, nearly all the top-order contenders for their next campaign at home have failed to make an impact.

Opener Mark Stoneman, who played all seven Tests over the northern winter without making a century, followed up his first-innings four with 24 in Surrey's second dig against Hampshire at The Oval.

The visiting captain James Vince, England's No.3 who played all but one match against Australia and NZ also without a ton, fared little better with scores of six and 33. The right-hander did manage 75 against Worcestershire earlier this month in Hampshire's season opener.

Stoneman and Vince would appear the most vulnerable incumbent batsmen from England's last Test, though their challengers have done little to advance their respective cases.

Former Test openers Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings have found themselves paired together at the top of Lancashire's order after the latter crossed from Durham over the off-season but neither has managed a score of any substance.

Hameed has ticked over into double-digits just once while Jennings' top score in four hits is 27.

Of the other specialist batsmen who toured the West Indies on an England Lions trip in February for three unofficial 'Tests', none have passed 50 in the County Championship this year.

They include Lancashire captain Liam Livingstone, Worcestershire's Joe Clarke (who has been likened to a young Joe Root) and Hampshire's Sam Northeast. Highly-rated Middlesex opener Nick Gubbins is injured.

Ashes tourist Gary Ballance posted 82 for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire but his cards may have been marked after being left out of England's Test squad for New Zealand in favour of Livingstone.

Strauss said England's failures aboard could present opportunities for players ahead of a two-Test series against Pakistan and a big five-Test bout against the world No.1 side India.

"Winning away from home is a real problem for us and has been for decades," Strauss told the BBC. "We need to be much sharper in terms of how we approach this and be a bit more creative.

"For the players themselves, it's about lifting it a notch or two. Those younger guys that have come in, they haven't grabbed their chance with both hands and that's a challenge for them to do that.

"For the more senior players, we need more match-winning contributions from them as well."

But the appointment of Test batsmen turned journalist Ed Smith as England's new national selector won't necessitate hasty alterations to the Test side, according to Strauss.

"Ed is going to bring in fresh ideas and he knows some of the principles around good talent ID (identification) having studied sport in all parts of the world.

"But I don't think we're going to see huge changes come the first Test this summer.

"What we're trying to do with the new talent ID and selection system is to have better quality information than we have had previously.

"I think over the next three or four years it will lead to players selected who are better suited to the international game. But it's not just looking at who is doing well in county cricket.

"It's about what skills people have to allow us to win at international level, those that might not just work in England but away from home."