Grandson of the legendary Denis, Nick Compton doesn't share his relation's ability to entertain with the bat but has made his own career as a top-order batsman with a very correct technique. Selected to open the batting for England after a prolific domestic season in 2012, he now has the chance to emulate some of his grandfather's international success.

Compton was raised in South Africa and only arrived in the UK as a teenager, attending Harrow School. His early upbringing is manifest in his confidence at the crease. A talented all-round ballplayer, he represented Natal at tennis, football and hockey at junior level, as well as being a six-handicap golfer.

Although he played for England Under-19s in 2001-02, he took some time to break through into the Middlesex side. Three Championship matches in 2004 brought little return but when his chance finally came again at the start of 2006 he made the most of it. He kicked off with a maiden hundred in the first game against Oxford University - sharing a 192 opening stand with another famous grandson, Ben Hutton - and then hit a hundred against Kent in the first Championship match of the summer.

But he grew increasingly frustrated with what he perceived as a lack of opportunities and moved to Somerset ahead of the 2010 season. It was a productive decision and he became a consistent scorer in a strong top order but it was in 2012 that he really caught the attention, when he came within a whisker of scoring 1,000 runs before the end of May. He was denied by the weather at New Road but in a season ruined by rain he finished with 1,494 at 99.60. It was enough to earn him a call-up for England's tour to India, replacing the retired Andrew Strauss as opener despite batting at No. 3 for Somerset.

While his performances in the four Tests in India, where England prevailed 2-1, were not a complete success, Compton's steady starts in spinning conditions left a feeling that he had potential to succeed. Just one half-century meant more was needed to cement his place in the side but he was kept on for the New Zealand tour and in the opening match in Dunedin made a second-innings century, a knock of immense determination. Another hundred in Wellington penned Compton into England's first-choice Test XI.
ESPNcricinfo staff