Compton admits England future on the line

Top-order batsman Nick Compton admits his England future hangs in the balance after his three-ball duck in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley.

England thumped Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs to take the lead in the three-match series, but for their No.3 batsman, it was only a continuation of his run drought.

"Yeah, sure. Definitely," Compton said when asked if he thought his England career was on the line.

"I don't know the actual answer to that but you've got to score runs. I want to score runs but I want to do it because I want to feel good.

"I want to feel good about my batting and I want to feel good about contributing to the England team. Those are my driving motivations."

The grandson of the legendary Denis Compton has scored 15, 26, 0, 19, 6 and 0 in his past six Test innings and reckons his old-fashioned grafting is in stark contrast with the belligerent batting of someone such as teammate Ben Stokes.

"The way the game's going, I think people are drawn towards a certain glamour and some players provide that and people want to see more of that," Compton said.

"That's great, we're in the entertainment business, it's about getting bums on seats ... I'm by no means unaware of that. That's what people want to see.

"I know deep inside me there's a player in here who could change all those opinions very quickly, but unfortunately until you do it and people see it in real life there's no point in me saying anything else."

The second Test begins at Chester-le-Street on Friday.