Just lifted this off Ananova :
Marsh backs Key to unlock Test door
Robert Key has been backed to meet the challenge of Test cricket by Australian legend Rodney Marsh.
The 23-year-old Key could replace Graham Thorpe in the England side, when the second Test squad is announced on Sunday.
And England's academy director Marsh believes Key has the temperament for the international stage.
Marsh viewed Key at first hand throughout the Adelaide-based camp in the winter as the Kent opener piled up some useful scores.
"I rate Robert as a bloke,and a player," said Marsh. "Technically I think he is very well equipped.
"I don't know if he has got enough runs this season, that is for the selectors and not me to decide.
"But I am sure if he is chosen he will give it his best, he is a great character.
"He never backs away from a confrontation and I really like that about him, he's prepared to back himself and that's half the battle.
"He has worked pretty hard on his game over the past couple of years and whether he is ready for Test level remains to be seen - but he will give a good account of himself."
Part of the graft Key has put in has been to lose weight and he had shed the majority of his bulk when he returned from Australia earlier this year.
"From what I understand Robert has worked particularly hard over the past couple of years on his fitness and there has been a hell of a difference," said Marsh.
"He still has a little way to go in some areas like his flexibility and his throwing.
"He is not the worst in the field but he has not got that bullet arm at the moment and that is something he needs to work on."
Key, Ian Bell, Mark Ramprakash and David Fulton are all battling for the batting slot vacated by Thorpe, who is taking a break from the game.
Bell has struggled this summer, while Ramprakash averages a touch below 60. Fulton - Key's opening partner at Kent - has been out recently with a chipped bone in his finger and only returned to action.
It is a possibility that both Key and Ramprakash could be named in the party for Nottingham in case Mark Butcher suffers any further reaction to his injured left knee.
Possible squad: N Hussain (Essex, capt), MP Vaughan (Yorkshire), RWT Key (Kent), MA Butcher (Surrey), JP Crawley (Hampshire), AJ Stewart (Surrey, wkt), A Flintoff (Lancashire), C White (Yorkshire), AF Giles (Warwickshire), SP Jones (Glamorgan), MJ Hoggard (Yorkshire), DG Cork (Derbyshire).
Looks like Rod agrees with LuckyEddie and Rich - which makes it a near certainty that Rampers will get the nod.
