Peter Handscomb: "There needs to be conversations about Sam Robson playing for England again"

Robson played seven Tests in 2014 but has not represented England since, despite enjoying a terrific season in 2021

Middlesex captain Peter Handscomb has tipped Sam Robson for an England recall after the opener made a match-winning century at Hove.

Robson, who played seven Tests in 2014 but has not represented England since, had a terrific season in 2021 – scoring 1,047 runs as the third-highest run-scorer in the County Championship – and added his first hundred of this summer against Sussex in a remarkable seven-wicket victory for Middlesex.

Robson struck 149, having lost his opening partner, Mark Stoneman, in the second over of a 370-run chase, with Robbie White also missing after dislocating his shoulder.

"It was an incredible win, to chase down that big total in 74 overs," said Handscomb. "We saw the moment there and we took it."

On Robson specifically, who took Middlesex within 100 runs before being trapped in front by Ollie Robinson, Handscomb suggested that it was high time his teammate was considered, given the ongoing search for an opening pair.

"I think there needs to be conversations about Sam Robson playing for England again," he told the ECB Reporters Network.

"The team looks like it's going through a restructure and Robbo has been putting it together for three or four years now. We've already seen that he can make runs opening for England."

^{Robson has been a consistent run-scorer since his time with England (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

Ahead of this season, Robson, who missed Middlesex's opening-round draw against Derbyshire with a fractured thumb, told The Cricketer that he struggled in the initial aftermath to his international spell. "In the first couple of years after England, maybe I thought about it a bit too much at times rather than just going out there and playing," he said.

"It's in the back of your mind all the time – I'd be lying if I said it wasn't – but now it's not something that I really analyse or think much about.

"I'd love to play for England again. As long as I'm playing first-class cricket, that is something I'll always be striving for, regardless of whether a player's 25 or 35. I think that should always be in the back of your mind."

He pointed to the examples of former Middlesex colleagues Chris Rogers and Adam Voges as players who improved with age and thrived after being awarded Test caps in their latter years.

"Guys like that have been a bit of an inspiration," he said. "Maybe that's a bit over the top, but seeing guys like that play at their best as they got older spurs me on.

"The more you play and the older you get, the better you get until the point where it's time to call it a day. I think that's been the case with me, but that doesn't always mean that's when you're going to get your opportunity. I feel in a good place, so hopefully I can carry that on."