Marcus North

Marcus North is hoping to have cemented a place in the Australia side for the first Ashes Test after his century against England Lions at Worcester on Friday.

North had managed a combined total of only 13 runs in his previous three knocks - including only a single in the first innings at New Road. But the Western Australian batsman found his form with a vengeance in scoring an unbeaten 106 out of 276-4 - a lead overall of 282.

North, who has played for five counties in England, said: "There has been a bit of pressure building up in the last three innings and it was nice to get an opportunity to score some runs. Ricky Ponting pushed me up the order to number four and it was an opportunity to get out there while the ball was still hard and to get a few rewards."

He added: "With the Test match only around the corner, and myself not performing as well as I would have liked, it is a pretty important hundred for me.

"It is nice to spend a few hours in the middle leading up to Cardiff and hopefully that puts me at the front of selection."

North shared in a century partnership with Michael Clarke on a slow wicket but expects similar conditions in Wales next week.

He said: "It was a bit difficult out there. The wicket was really slow and the ball got pretty soft.

"But it was very similar to the conditions we expect in Cardiff and it was pretty good to get similar match practice in.

"It looks like there are going to be some grinding out hours during the Test match.

"It was nice to get tested today and hopefully it will stand us in good stead for next week."