Joyce determined to take chance
Ed Joyce, the Middlesex left-hander who has been summoned into England's Ashes squad to replace Marcus Trescothick, is still trying to take in his call-up but is determined to use the chance to push forward his international career
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"It was unbelievable really," Joyce told the Daily Mail on his way to the airport, "I was expecting to be going to Perth and the academy and suddenly its Adelaide and the Ashes. It was a bit of a surprise alright, but a very nice one. David Graveney gave me a call yesterday morning and left a message. I phoned back while I was on the way to my corner shop to get a loaf of bread. He was in Hong Kong but gave me the news that Marcus unfortunately had to come home and I was the replacement.
"It is terrible news about Marcus. Hopefully this is not the end of his international career because he's such a good player but his going obviously gives me an opportunity. If I get the chance to play, I will try to take it. That's the way these things go in sport."
Joyce had been placed on standby as part of England's Academy squad, who fly out to Perth for a five-week training camp. "I knew I had as good a chance as the other two guys in contention [Robert Key and Owais Shah], but I think I got the nod because I was batting from No. 3 to No. 5 and opening in the one-dayers so they probably see me as reasonably versatile.
"I'm just going to work really hard and do all the right things and, if I get the chance, hopefully I'll be able to take it. There is no panic. I have butterflies but I'm still in England so trying to gauge the interest is difficult. I've played in the same Middlesex team as Langer and McGrath and know them all reasonably well. That gives me a bit of an advantage if I do get a chance."
Joyce's selection was slightly unexpected seeing as Key had already taken part in an Ashes tour in 2002-03 and Shah had performed well on debut in India last winter, where he scored 88 at Mumbai. But England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, elaborated on the selection.
"As we already have other players in the squad who have experience of opening the innings we have decided to choose a replacement who will be able to cover a number of different positions within the order," said Graveney. "Ed is a highly promising player who has performed well for Middlesex this season and I am sure he will be delighted to be part of an Ashes squad."
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