Though there were no England selectors at St Lawrence to watch Rob Key score his unbeaten 178 for Kent against New Zealand on Monday, the county skipper certainly allowed his bat to hammer out the message that he is ready for Test cricket again.

Key won the last of his 15 Test caps in South Africa in January 2005, but every day since the right-hander from Beckenham has never given up hope of pulling on a three lions' sweater once more.

After taking 27 boundaries off the tourists on a day when Kent amassed 324 for one, Key said: "It was a pretty flat pitch, a decent toss to win and one of the best days in terms of weather that we've had here so far this season, so it was a good day to get in and make it count.

"Scoring two tons against New Zealand kick-started my season in 2004 and I managed to play some Tests after that and do pretty well against the West Indies, so I'm hoping this is a good omen.

"Sometimes you have teams you do well against as a batter and unfortunately for New Zealand they seem to cop it every time I go to the wicket against them."

Key could yet play against the New Zealanders again this spring if he wins selection for the England Lions side to play the tourists at The Rose Bowl from May 8-11, but his sights are set on an even bigger target - a return to the Test fold.

He added: "We wouldn't be talking about my chances again for England if the boys had done really well in New Zealand and Sri Lanka over the winter.

"If the England batters had had a gun time of things and were winning games of cricket then you don't start looking at the fringe players like me."

He added: "You get a bit more faith (in England selection) when you see the likes of Ryan Sidebottom get in the side, bowl well and stay in there.

"It's great to play for Kent and captain the side, but the day you don't think you're good enough to get back in the England side is the day you become a county journeyman. Then it can be a grind come the middle of the summer, but if you feel you have a chance of getting back in (the England team) then you're more likely to keep going on those days when you just start to feel a bit tired.

"There are a few people scoring runs at the moment, Ravi Bopara seems to get a hundred most time he walks in, Owais Shah is also a fine player and may be the next one in line, but maybe if they need an opener then I might just nip ahead of him."