Lots of needling but the compass points North

Marcus North, in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, talks about the immense scrutiny that playing Test cricket brings, making a century on debut, working on his bowling and competition from young players.

''I've never taken criticism badly or negatively,'' he says. ''Players are always analysed and if you're not performing to expectations you can't expect easy treatment.

''The thing is that in my 11 years of first-class cricket I've never had to deal with that. I've never come close to that sort of scrutiny at state level. It's something I had to learn very quickly and adapt to, especially towards the back end of the Australian summer when the attention on me was growing.''