KENT wicketkeeper Geraint Jones refuses to write off his international career despite being dropped during the Ashes series and not winning a place in England’s 2007 World Cup squad.

From the moment he was axed from England’s side to play the fourth Test against Australia on Boxing Day, Jones set in place a master plan that might ultimately lead to his international re-call.

Speaking from Brisbane, where he is playing first grade club cricket, Jones said: "Once I missed out at Melbourne I made the decision to stay on here after the Ashes series.

"It is a process I felt I had to go through to make sure I would hit the ground running for Kent this summer.

"I do read the papers and the Kent websites and some of the comments were disappointing. I even saw some members questioning my motivation to get back in the England set up.

"If they had any clue about me as a person they would know that motivation is the one thing I have plenty of. We have a good side at Kent who expect to do well and I want to do my bit to push the team on."

Incredibly, Jones learned of his non-selection for the up-coming Cricket World Cup from his wife Jen, yet he remains phlegmatic over his omission from England’s 30-man long list squad.

He added: "I found out I wouldn’t be going to the Caribbean during a phone call to my wife. She had just read it on Teletext or the Internet or something.

"To be fair, it didn’t worry me too much because I didn’t expect to be in the squad. I hadn’t played much one-day cricket since last summer, didn’t go the ICC Trophy and once they bought in Paul Nixon and picked him, I didn’t expect to go to the West Indies."

Jones revealed: "It’s been a full-on, tough three-and-a-half years with England and I believe this break will do me good."

He added: "I’m here until February 22, then I join up with the MCC tour of Papua New Guinea and New Zealand for almost a month, it’s the same trip James Tredwell’s (Kent off-spinner) is on.

"I land back in England after that on the morning Kent are flying out to La Manga for pre-season training.

"I won’t be back in England until mid-March, but by then I’ll be ready to hit the ground running for the county season."