Somerset's Nick Compton has been backed by club-mates to make Indian bowlers toil after the batsman staked his claim to become Alistair Cook's England opening.
The 29-year-old shrugged off a tough start to his country's tour by scoring an unbeaten 64 in the three-day draw with Mumbai A.
England closed on 149-2 in their second innings to bring their latest outing to a close ten days before the start of the first Test.
County Ground colleagues Marcus Trescothick and Peter Trego said South African-born Compton was the ideal candidate to produce long innings.
Skipper Trescothick said: "When you get to a point in your career you know it won't be long before you get runs. You might go three, four or five games if you're unlucky but it might be in that sixth game you get a double hundred.
"It's not a case of it going completely, it just disappears for a period of time and when it comes back you know you're going to get loads of runs.
"He is trying to keep that confidence to think 'it's not my time at the moment but when it is I will make the most of it'.
"He is all about batting for long periods of time and we have seen that here on many occasions. He is probably one of the best in the country at that and he will churn it out to make the most of it."
All-rounder Trego added that Compton deserved a long and distinguished career on the global stage.
"He batted for so many hours in the season that you do not lose that ability over night," he said. "I haven't seen the dismissals but I am assuming he got two good balls with the new ball early on, which you can get.
"The great thing is that he has proven that once he gets beyond that sticky period with the new ball he can punish a team and bat for a long time, which is exactly what you want from a Test opener.
"I am pretty confident that he will be getting that number two position and if he can get a bit of luck early on he will get a big score to cement himself for a good future in Test cricket. He really does deserve it."
The 29-year-old shrugged off a tough start to his country's tour by scoring an unbeaten 64 in the three-day draw with Mumbai A.
England closed on 149-2 in their second innings to bring their latest outing to a close ten days before the start of the first Test.
County Ground colleagues Marcus Trescothick and Peter Trego said South African-born Compton was the ideal candidate to produce long innings.
Skipper Trescothick said: "When you get to a point in your career you know it won't be long before you get runs. You might go three, four or five games if you're unlucky but it might be in that sixth game you get a double hundred.
"It's not a case of it going completely, it just disappears for a period of time and when it comes back you know you're going to get loads of runs.
"He is trying to keep that confidence to think 'it's not my time at the moment but when it is I will make the most of it'.
"He is all about batting for long periods of time and we have seen that here on many occasions. He is probably one of the best in the country at that and he will churn it out to make the most of it."
All-rounder Trego added that Compton deserved a long and distinguished career on the global stage.
"He batted for so many hours in the season that you do not lose that ability over night," he said. "I haven't seen the dismissals but I am assuming he got two good balls with the new ball early on, which you can get.
"The great thing is that he has proven that once he gets beyond that sticky period with the new ball he can punish a team and bat for a long time, which is exactly what you want from a Test opener.
"I am pretty confident that he will be getting that number two position and if he can get a bit of luck early on he will get a big score to cement himself for a good future in Test cricket. He really does deserve it."