Nick Compton

The grandson of England great Denis, Nick Compton is a dependable top-order batsman boasting a rock-solid defensive technique and huge reserves of patience.

Despite his English heritage, Compton was brought up in South Africa and moved to England when he was a teenager.

A classy operator at the crease, Compton impressed at Middlesex as an opening batsman and has since prospered in the middle order for Somerset, whom he joined prior to the 2010 season.

He scored 1,010 LV= County Championship runs in 2011, before attracting wider attention with a stunning start to the following campaign.

Inclement weather at New Road prevented him from becoming the first man in 24 years to reach 1,000 runs by the end of May, but Compton duly earned England Lions selection.

The batsman subsequently finished the season with 1,494 first-class runs - including 1,191 in the championship - and was rewarded with a place in England's Test squad to face India.

Returning to the role of opener he occupied earlier in his career, the determined Compton stepped up superbly, sharing several substantial partnerships with in-form captain Alastair Cook as England secured a landmark series win.