'I never lost hope during international exile'

England offspinner Robert Croft said that he never gave up hope that he would someday return to international cricket during his two-year exile.

England offspinner Robert Croft said Tuesday that he never gave up hope that he would someday return to international cricket during his two-year exile.

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"I was not sure if I would ever get back but I never stopped hoping," he told reporters in Sri Lankan capital Colombo. "I went back to my county club which is Glamorgan and had a couple of good seasons and got back in.

Here I am and everything from here on is a bonus," said Croft, who has not played a test match since opting out of the 2001 tour to India. Croft and his test team colleagues are currently in Colombo for a three-match series.

Croft, 33, last played in the third match of the Ashes series against Australia in Nottingham in August 2001. In his five-year long career, he has played in 21 test matches and captured 49 wickets at 37 runs per wicket.

He captured 111 county championship wickets in the last two seasons.

The offspinner, whose nine wickets in the series helped England's 2-1 win during their last tour in 2001, says he is looking forward to the challenge against some better players of spin. "I've been out of the team for two years. It's been great to come back and hopefully play a part if I'm selected on the field," Croft said.

He said many players who were part of the last successful series were still in the squad and "those memories and those experiences will be able to be called upon at relevant times." "We realize that this is going to be a tough nut to crack but I'm confident ... that there is enough fire power within the team to do that," Croft said.