The Hampshire batsman was on the verge of full international recognition at the start of the season after a successful tour with the England Lions to India.

But his hopes of muscling his way into the Test squad were dashed as his County Championship form nosedived.

Although he struggled with his form in the four-day game and was eventually dropped from the Hampshire side, Carberry impressed in one-day fixtures and Twenty20 cricket.

Even now, though, he has no idea why the runs flowed in limited overs cricket, yet dried up in the four-day game.

Carberry said: 'It hasn't been the kind of season I was looking for.
'I would like to have been a lot more prolific.

'One-day cricket has actually gone pretty well for me, but I haven't scored the runs that I wanted to in the Championship.

'I haven't been able to put my finger on any specific reason for it.

'I've looked at TV footage, computer analysis, gone in the nets and done extra work.

'I've done the whole shebang and still don't know!

'But I think it has taught me to be a stronger person and I think I'm probably a better player for it as well.'

Tomorrow's Pro40 League division one showdown with Worcestershire represents an ideal chance for the left-hander to press his claims as a future international after a terrific response to being dropped from the county side.

He explained: 'At the time, I had no qualms with being left out of the side – I wasn't playing very well.

'I'm pretty honest with myself as a person and as a player and I knew they couldn't keep playing me if I wasn't scoring runs.

'I think that week off helped refresh my mind a bit and it helped take some of the pressure away.

'It gave me a chance to work on a few things in the nets and when I came back against Kent, I batted beautifully.

'The old fluency came back and I haven't really looked back since then.'
Carberry made a blistering 67 in the win over Durham and an unbeaten 58 in the Floodlit Cup win over Essex in midweek.

And now he's ready to do some damage to Worcestershire in a game Hampshire must win.

He said: 'It's nice to be back somewhere approaching my best again and it bodes well going into the Worcestershire game.

'I've scored runs in my past two innings but we've got so much to play for.

'It could be a great finish to the season for all of us.'