Copeland is just sticking to his task - The Age

Trent Copeland celebrates after dismissing Rob Quiney of the Bushrangers. Photo: Getty Images

The only thing Trent Copeland might have had more of than hot dinners are gibes about his lack of bowling pace.

''The number of times I've had to deal with that I couldn't even tell you,'' the tall NSW seamer said. ''But there's a number of people who've [subsequently] come up and said, 'I'm sorry, you did pretty well even though you don't have the pace'.

''The benefit I've got is if I bowl well and don't take wickets I can still go for 60 runs off 30 overs and can do a job holding up one end. That's why I couldn't care less how fast I bowl.''

Since Copeland got his first, and as yet only, taste of Test cricket in mid-2011 - he performed creditably in Sri Lanka before being squeezed out during the next tour in South Africa - Australia have introduced no fewer than five new pacemen.

While no one, not even Copeland, would argue about the opportunity given to young guns Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Mitch Starc in that time, the relentlessly accurate right-armer has found himself usurped by comparable seamers John Hastings and Jackson Bird.

The most attention Copeland has had this season was about the bizarre nature of the ankle injury he suffered in November: tripping on the SCG steps while performing 12th man duties. The only mildly fortunate aspect of it was the timing, because he missed only one match before the Sheffield Shield hiatus for the Big Bash League.

It would probably surprise many close watchers of domestic cricket that Copeland, who turns 27 this week, was ranked 11th for Shield wickets before the latest round with 24 at 26.17 - an almost identical record to what he managed in the 2010-11 season before his Test call-up.

While bowling performances remain the primary gauge of Copeland's standing in Australia, his intent for his batting to also come into consideration has also paid off.

Copeland was a wicketkeeper and top-order batsman until his late teens until a surfeit of glovemen at his Sydney club, St George, led him to concentrate on batting and, belatedly, bowling. Once the latter took off he found himself immediately demoted to the tail, although he admitted he gave selectors at club or state level little reason to change their minds. ''My family often give me shit, saying, 'Gee, any chance of you scoring a run?''' he said.

A focus on facing pacemen in difficult conditions in training during the winter has helped trigger a significant improvement. His half-century at the MCG against Victoria on Friday took his season batting tally to 342 runs at 34.2, which includes a maiden first-class century against Tasmania - his most joyful personal achievement in cricket.

As the Australian season concludes Copeland is bracing himself for a typically heavy workload in England, as part of his first county stint for Northamptonshire. His contract will run until the start of the Ashes series Copeland but said there was nothing strategic about him being in England at the same time as the Test squad. He does, however, feel he has a lot to prove.

"I think it's a great opportunity to get over there and learn a bit about bowling with the Dukes ball and prove I can do what I do here in the conditions over there. There's no reason I can't. If I can taken wickets at a flat Adelaide Oval, Manuka Oval and places like that in Australia then there's no reason why I can't over there," he said.

"The good thing for me at the time I got selected was that there was not one fast-bowler injured around Australia, no-one was rested. At the time, I was picked because on merit, I was [rated] in the best team in Australia. That was such a thrill for me.

"I don't have any regrets, don't begrudge anyone for not picking me [since the Sri Lanka tour in 2011]. I think I'm quite capable if I get another opportunity but if I don't get back there no-one can take my baggy green away."