Nick Compton: England batsman says he is playing for his Test place

Nick Compton averaged 30.6 in the recent Tests against South Africa

Batsman Nick Compton says he will be playing for his place in the side when England face Sri Lanka in the second Test in Durham starting on Friday.

The 32-year-old was out for a third-ball duck in England's only innings of the first Test win at Headingley.

In 14 Tests, the Middlesex player has scored 724 runs at an average of 30.16 and strike-rate of 35.62.

"If you don't play well enough, you get dropped," said Compton "That's fundamentally how it works."

Compton returned to the Test side last December for the tour of South Africa, following a two-and-a-half-year absence.

He scored 245 runs in eight innings batting at number three.

He admits his style of play is not as exciting as all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has been ruled out of the rest of the Sri Lanka series through injury, but is confident about his own value to the side.

"We're in the entertainment business, it's about getting bums on seats, and I suppose watching Ben's 200 is better than watching Compton's 80," he said.

"If I was sitting on the couch I'd rather watch Stokes' 200. I'm by no means unaware of that. The way that I play doesn't always look that pretty.

"I know deep inside me there's a player in here who could change all those opinions very quickly, but, unfortunately, until you do it and people see it in real life, there's no point in me saying anything else."

Victory at Chester-le-Street will give England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series, with the final match at Lord's starting on 9 June.