England batsman Nick Compton to take an ‘immediate break from cricket’ after poor start to 2016
Middlesex man has had a highest score of 44 runs in 2016 and is ruled out of four-test visit of Pakistan
ENGLAND batsman Nick Compton to take an "immediate break from cricket" after tough start to 2016.
Compton, who turns 33 on Sunday, accrued just 51 runs at an average of 12.75 in three Tests against Sri Lanka, leading to suggestions he would be omitted from the Pakistan series later this summer.
He has gone 12 innings since his last international half-century although scores of 85 and 49 last December against South Africa in Durban, the place of his birth, were heralded as match-defining knocks.
Since then, however, he has been desperately short of form for England and Middlesex with a highest score in 2016 of 44.
It has therefore been decided that the battling right-hander should given a leave of absence from the game for an unspecified amount of time, almost certainly ruling him out of Pakistan's four-Test tour, which gets under way at Lord's on July 14.
A Middlesex statement said: "Following a challenging start to the 2016 season, both physically and mentally, it has been agreed that the best way forward is for Compton to spend some time away from the game."
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Compton has played 16 Tests for England, accruing 775 runs at an average of 28.7 with two centuries, both of which came on the tour of New Zealand during his first international stint more than three years ago.
Middlesex's managing director of cricket Angus Fraser said: "Nick sets himself very high standards and makes a huge commitment to cricket.
"We all believe that some time away from the game now will allow him to refresh, recharge and return to play the sort of cricket we all know he is capable of producing.
"During this period Nick will receive the full support of Middlesex CCC and the England cricket team management."