Sidebottom: I've got it all to prove

Something of a surprise pick for the second match of the npower series at Headingley last time out - having not been in the 25-man development squad named at the start of the summer - the shaggy-haired seamer responded with eight for 86 in an innings triumph.

"At the end of the day I am not going to get carried away, it's only one game and the ball swung," said Sidebottom, whose ability to generate aerial movement caused havoc under Leeds' grey cloud. "I was picked to take wickets and did, but this week is a different ball game in different conditions."

It was the kind of display to buy a couple of Tests' grace, especially with former Yorkshire team-mate Matthew Hoggard sidelined through injury.

Another such return would enhance the chances of Sidebottom, 29, travelling to Sri Lanka this winter and facing Chaminda Vaas, the fellow left-armer he used as a role model in his successful bid to end a six-year Test absence.

He added: "I am not looking too far ahead - this is only my third Test and I want to perform again, I want to be a regular.

"Hoggard is injured, so is Freddie (Andrew Flintoff), there are other guys ahead of me in the pecking order but if I keep going out and taking wickets, hopefully I'll keep getting selected."

Despite playing in a winning team against Pakistan at Lord's in 2001 - ironically because of an injury to Hoggard - Sidebottom was discarded.

Former England coach Duncan Fletcher's obsession with out-and-out speed in fast bowlers appeared to close the door on his international ambitions, but 50 first-class wickets in both 2005 and 2006 left a lasting impression elsewhere.

"Of course there was doubt," Sidebottom - talking at npower's BIG ticket offer in Manchester - said of his return. "Everybody wants to play Test cricket and it had been a long time between games for me. Six years is a very long time but you never give up hope of playing."