Mark Footitt believes an opportunity to represent England could come his way if he can start 2015 in the impressive manner he began last season.
A five-wicket haul in last year’s LV= County Championship curtain-raiser against Essex was the catalyst for 82 victims – 10 more than any other bowler in 2014.
Footitt finished with 106 dismissals across all formats – the most by a Derbyshire player since 1965 – and unsurprisingly earned him a spot in the England Performance Programme fast bowler’s camp in South Africa over the winter.
And while injury curtailed that experience, the 29-year-old is confident he can maintain last summer’s lofty standards.
“I think all I need to do is just start the session well,” Footitt told ecb.co.uk. “Just concentrate on starting well with Derbyshire and hopefully start the season by taking a lot of wickets.
“International cricket is massive and I think if you ask any county cricketer they would want to play for England. When you first start your main goal is to get up there and play cricket for England.”
Footitt feels he pressed his claim with his efforts in Potchefstroom, having worked on adding lower-order runs to his game as well as his bowling.
“I thought it went really well just before Christmas,” he added. “The experience was good with the coaches Ottis Gibson, Kevin Shine and Mark Robinson, the batting coach. I did a lot of batting there as well and just being around players who have played international cricket before like Boyd Rankin and Liam Plunkett was really good.
“I think you’ve got to be able to get 25-30 runs batting down at number 10 or 11. I think it’s something that I’ve definitely worked hard on in the winter as well as my bowling.”
With Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult being the leading two wicket-takers in the World Cup, fellow left-arm seamer Footitt wants to follow their example.
However, he admits he faces some stiff competition if the England selectors do look for a left-arm option.
“There are a few left-armers around, but if you base it on wickets then I would say that I’m one of the best out there,” he said.
“Obviously there are other good left-armers around like Harry Gurney at Notts and Tymal Mills at Sussex so obviously there is a bit of competition but all I can do is do well for Derbyshire and take wickets.
“You look around international cricket and see they [Starc and Boult] were the two leading wicket-takers at the World Cup and it is something different.
“It adds another dimension and a lot of batsmen find it difficult against left-arm seamers. It just gives me a little bit more advantage than a right-arm seamer.”
Not that Footitt necessarily expects his chance to come via the limited-overs format, adding: “I think Test-match cricket is for me.
“I think if you look where I’ve taken my wickets it’s been in four-day cricket for Derbyshire, so I think if I’m ever going to play international cricket it will be in a Test match.”
#TRAINING: Here's Mark Footitt in the nets today. New season just 19 days away! #P2bDpic.twitter.com/2JrnpCOXu2
— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) March 30, 2015