Jonathan Trott is excited at the prospect of re-starting his England career in the coming days, following his well-publicised 18-month break from the international arena.
The 33-year-old right-hander appears set to partner captain Alastair Cook when the first Test against West Indies begins in Antigua on Monday.
It would be his first full return to England colours since he left the 2013/14 Ashes series due to a “stress-related illness”.
“It feels very nice. It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work for a couple of months with the Lions and with Warwickshire,” Trott told ecb.co.uk.
“It’s always pleasing to get the opportunity to come back and play for England, it’s something I’ve worked really hard for.
“It’s nice to be here, but the hard work continues trying to prepare and earn a place in the Test team.”
Trott forced his way into England’s squad through a sheer weight of runs after he scored more than a 1,000 runs in all county competitions last season including five centuries.
He followed it up by being England Lions’ leading runscorer in their winter tour of South Africa, at an average of 132.
“It’s a lot of hard work and some good people around me and I’ve managed to be able to get myself here,” he said.
“It’s by no means the end, or the position I want to be in, it’s just getting back in the squad. I want to contribute and make England successful.”
For all the personal satisfaction Trott might feel after making the climb back to the top, it is helping England return to the summit of international cricket that remains his priority.
He admits the welcome by his team-mates since flying out for the Caribbean has been reassuring, but he knows there is a job to be done over the three-Test series.
“The guys have been really great in welcoming me back," he said.
“But it’s not all about high fives and handshakes. It’s about doing some hard yards and winning Test matches for England."
And the Warwickshire man thinks he is better equipped to help England do that after making his hard road back to this stage.
“You have got to keep things in perspective and you’ve got to understand that there are no guarantees in life,” he said.
“Things aren’t just going to work out your way and you’ve just got to roll with the punches sometimes.
"Being better at that is something I feel that I have and I’ve worked really hard at a few things – a culmination of things had to come together for me to be able to get here. I’m really pleased.”