England's forgotten man

While England were being pasted 5-0 by Sri Lanka you could have forgiven one man for allowing himself a wry smile. But England's forgotten man, Surrey allrounder Rikki Clarke, is having none of it. "No, obviously I'd like to be playing for England," he says. "I'm also an England fan, I want them to do well."

England players were dropping like flies, Clarke was simply dropped from the selectors' thoughts - at both senior and now A-team level - despite hitherto solid performances for England A, despite being named in the 25-man development squad and despite strong showings for Surrey.

"It's quite strange that I've been named in the England Development Squad of 25 and you don't even get in the A-team," he says. "There's people coming in from the outskirts."

He's had to watch while Tim Bresnan ("a great prospect") and Jamie Dalrymple ("he's done well") were brought in above him. He's generous in his praise of the new boys, whom he calls the youngsters - somewhat ironically as he's 24 and Dalrymple, at 25, is actually his senior.

Clarke seems older, though, perhaps because he's so battle-hardened from having taken punch after punch in his short career. "That's cricket for you - so many highs and lows and setbacks. There's been so many disappointing sides to cricket, being dropped and left out. You just get on with it. And that's what I've done again."

But he's not battle weary - yet. "It just makes me stronger as a player." And his answer is to let his game do the talking. It's a well-rehearsed response too with, by his reckoning, ten setbacks for England already. "Another one isn't going to affect me too much." And he means it.

He remains, much like fellow allrounder Paul Collingwood who was on the England fringes for years, surprisingly unbitter. And look where Collingwood is now.

If there's one thing that's changed recently it is that he is now cautious. Does he think he will make the World Cup squad? "Don't know," he replies in a beat. "I really don't know. I thought that I would be playing against Sri Lanka this one-day series. I thought I would be in the A side against Pakistan. All I can do is just concentrate on what I'm doing for Surrey, making runs and taking wickets."

He would, of course, love to return to the West Indies in 2007 to some happy, balmy hunting grounds. "I just love to play cricket in the Caribbean," he says. "You've got Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago... And St Lucia is a wonderful place.

"It's only just come about as a Test ground, but it's fantastic - they really look after the outfield. There was a proper party atmosphere when I played there - there were lots of schoolkids, there were whistles, the buzz really takes you through. There were a lot of bars, and it's got everything in a compact place. I'll definitely go back there for a holiday." Time will tell whether that will be a working holiday.

But it's not just the one-dayers that figure large in Clarke's aspirations. He has dreams of making his Test debut. "Hopefully I can make my debut for England it they pick me," he says, "and start afresh."

Now, many people may have forgotten he's already played two Tests, against Bangladesh, but surely the man himself can't have wiped those games from his memory? "It seems ages ago, it really does. But that's what I loved. People said, 'Oh it's only Bangladesh' and for me Bangladesh isn't really a Test match. Hopefully it won't be too long before I get another chance."

In the meantime he can concentrate on his vice-captaincy of Surrey - he's being groomed as their future skipper - and leading them in the Twenty20. "I'm enjoying it; it's quite hectic, you lose your voice shouting."

He can cling to the development squad, too, although the purpose of the squad is something of a moot point, especially when the England management haven't had that much communication with Clarke since they named the 25.

He talks to them, though, sending out strong messages with his 165 against Leicestershire when he missed out on one-day selection. "I've always liked to prove a point." How many more signals does he need to send, though? "You can only go so far keeping on proving a point but hopefully I'll read that stage where it's impossible not to pick me."