Prolific Protea can help Stoneman's cause

England opener Mark Stoneman hopes batting alongside South African star Dean Elgar can help him retain his Test spot for the upcoming series against Pakistan.

England will enter the two-match series starting next month with uncertainty still surrounding their batting line-up following their winless winter in Australia and New Zealand.

Stoneman posted solid half-centuries in Brisbane, Perth and Christchurch but finds himself under the microscope having averaged a little more than 30 in his 10 Tests to date, without a hundred.

The lack of a major score is frustration for the left-hander who, having faced more than 50 balls in half of his 18 innings, has shown signs that he can thrive at the highest level.

But he knows big runs are needed more than time in the middle, starting with a return to first-class action for Surrey against Hampshire this weekend.

"I need to convert starts into big scores," he said. "Runs are your currency as a batsman; that's ultimately what you're going to be judged on.

"It's something I struggled with in the early part of my county career. I would make decent 30s or 40s but not make the hundreds that I needed to.

"I've since got into those habits in county cricket over the last few years, but obviously haven't transferred that over into Test cricket yet.

"On reflection, I feel I'm good enough.

"The processes and the rhythms are the same, but it's just the intensity and the scrutiny that you're under is a hell of a lot more, so it's about trying to keep things in context."

Stoneman will get a close-up look at what's required to succeed at the top level when he pads up alongside Elgar, one of Surrey's overseas players for this season.

Also a left-handed opening batsman, Elgar has risen to eighth on the ICC Test batting rankings after scoring 1128 runs in 2017 – the third-most in the world last year – and adding another century against Australia last month.

His unbeaten 141 in Cape Town brought his Test conversion rate to an impressive 48 per cent; of the 23 times he's posted a fifty in Tests, he has gone onto three figures 11 times.

The 30-year-old doesn't shy away from his limitations as a batsman, saying earlier this year that he "can't go out there and play an AB de Villiers knock" but is happy playing within himself while his more talented teammates thrive.

And Stoneman said he is keen to pick the brain of his fellow left-hander.

"I don't know Elgar personally, but it will be nice to hopefully spend a little bit of time out there in the middle with him and at practice," Stoneman said.

"He's someone who always finds a way, regardless of the challenge he's up against. So it will be good to pick his brains and work alongside him.

"Ultimately though, it's up to me to make those runs to try and get selected for the Test series against Pakistan."

Lancashire duo Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed and Middlesex opener Nick Gubbins are considered the leading contenders to take Stoneman's place at the top of the order.

The first Test against starts at Lord's on May 24.