England chances seem to be gone - Essex's Porter

Jamie Porter made his Essex debut in 2014

Essex pace bowler Jamie Porter does not think another England call-up is going to happen despite another highly successful wicket-taking season.

The 31-year-old has taken 521 first-class wickets during his career, 55 of them in the County Championship this summer.

That haul makes him the competition's leading wicket-taker this season, heading into this week's final round of fixtures.

But although Porter made a Test squad against India in 2018, he has never played for the national team in any form of the game.

"If I look at what I can potentially get out of the rest of my career, it's really trophies at this club - I don't see myself playing for England now," he told BBC Look East.

Porter has taken 50 or more wickets in a season seven times - his highest total was 85 in 2017 when Essex won the County Championship by a 72-point margin without losing a single game.

He also helped them to complete a Championship and T20 Blast double in 2019 and lift the Bob Willis Trophy the following year, forming a prolific new-ball partnership with Sam Cook.

Porter's leanest year was 2022 when he was only able to play eight Championship games because of injury, taking 19 wickets, but a new fitness regime enabled him to return to his best last summer and earlier this year he agreed a new contract at Chelmsford to run until 2027.

"He's very skilful and there's not many bowlers round the country who can hit that length time after time and he can get the ball going both ways - if you speak to most batsmen round the country, they want to try and get him and Sam Cook off," said head coach Anthony McGrath.

"He's relentless really - I think that's the word for James."

'Closing the book'

Jamie Porter had match figures of 9-51 in Essex's Championship win over Warwickshire last week

Despite his consistency, Porter's chances of international recognition appear to have faded during the Bazball era, which has seen bowlers like Leicestershire left-armer Josh Hull called up despite having played only 10 first-class games, with England looking for bowlers with extra pace and height.

"That was an amazing experience (in 2018), one I'll remember for the rest of my life, and that hope of playing for England will never die - as long as I'm playing, I'll always dream of playing for England," Porter said.

"But you look at the selections they've made this summer, and the direction they seem to be going, the message is pretty clear that probably my time has been and gone.

"That's fine, but doesn't mean that I'm not going to be motivated to be the best I can be. But I have pretty much closed the book on that one."

Porter said being the Championship's leading wicket-taker this summer - with one round of fixtures to go - was "nice" and a "great reflection of the work" he has put in.

But he added: "It doesn't mean a great deal to me. I just want to perform consistently every day and some days that will mean taking a stack of wickets and others it will be backing up the spinners when it's turning."

With at least three more seasons as an Essex player ahead, Porter's goal is to bring the Championship trophy back to Chelmsford at least once.

He said: "The 2017 one will probably remain the most special because we'd just won Division Two the year before.

"We were thinking it would be tough to stay up but we had a break for one-day cricket and after that we just steamrollered our way through the rest of the season and won it so comfortably. That was unbelievable.

"For the last 11 years, Essex has been the centre of my life. My fiancee, we met here, my mum and dad spend a lot of time here watching the games. I don't see myself playing anywhere else - I'd love to finish my career at this club and the thought of winning one or two more titles in that time is everything."

Meanwhile, Porter's Essex team-mate Aaron Beard will retire from first-class cricket at the end of season.

The 26-year-old seamer has taken 101 wickets in 75 games for the club across all formats of the game.

"It's going to be hard to leave, but I'm definitely keen to stay involved in the game, and develop my career as a coach,” he said.