Andy Flower issues England’s Nick Compton with Ashes warning

Andy Flower has warned Nick Compton that he must start scoring runs if the Somerset batsman wants to retain his England place for the Ashes series.

Compton struggled to find any sort of form in England’s series triumph against New Zeland, managing a total of 39 runs in four innings at an average of 9.75.

And Flower revealed the opener would need to impress in Somerset’s first-class matches against Derbyshire and Australia to cement his selection for the Ashes.

“He’s got to go away and get back into form, score some heavy runs for Somerset,” Flower told BBC Sport.

“He has a few days off, then plays in a couple of one-day games before playing first-class cricket.

“Hopefully the one-day game will be good for him. He can go out, enjoy batting and enjoy hitting the ball.

“That can be the catalyst for him going into that first-class game to score big runs for Somerset.”

England captain Alastair Cook came under criticism for not implementing the follow-on in the second Test which almost resulted in the hosts putting their victory in jeopardy.

But Flower preferred to look at the positives from the series triumph, which included Joe Root’s first England ton and Cook’s 25th Test century.

“It was great to see Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root bat so brilliantly in the first innings. Joe Root was outstanding and it was great to see the passion and enthusiasm that the Yorkshire crowd gave in appreciation of his hundred,” he added.

“Alastair Cook scored another hundred, Swann is back in form and he has got his body into reasonable order. Those are all things I would prefer to focus on rather than the negatives.”