Tudor banking on ‘A' resurrection

London-Alex Tudor is pinning his hopes on a successful England "A" tour in the West Indies to resurrect his Test career.

The Surrey pace bowler, who was born to Barbadian parents, enjoyed a fine season with the champions last summer, taking 47 wickets, and was called up to the senior squad as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff.

Although his chances were limited, he still took four wickets at just 16 apiece. Feeling wanted in the first-team squad again should give him a boost as he is a key man in Mark Alleyne's "A" side who compete in the new year in the Busta Cup, for the first time.

"It was nice to be thought of in Pakistan and I knew nothing was guaranteed," Tudor said. "There weren't many practice games but the wickets were quite helpful. Nasser Hussain and The Management seemed to be pleased with the way I applied myself and, considering I hadn't bowled since September, I was happy with my figures."

England "A" depart on Thursday.

"We've got a young squad but, even though I'm only 23, I've already been on three tours so I'll be relied upon," Tudor said.

"It's a great opportunity for us to go out there and compete. The competition has received quite a bit of criticism but the island sides will really be gunning to beat England.

"We're the crop of youngsters coming through and in the next two or three years a few of the senior players may call it a day, so we've got to stake our claim. "It's up to me to show my pace on the wickets in the Caribbean. "I expect to get an enthusiastic reception as both my parents are from Barbados."