CHRIS Tremlett believes he can help England in their bid to retain the Ashes this winter – if he can stay fit long enough to impress the country's selectors.

An appalling injury record means the 28-year-old pace bowler has played just three times for his country, despite having all the raw attributes to be a giant on the international stage.

Standing 6ft 7in tall, and capable of bowling at close to 90 miles per hour, Tremlett should be the ideal long-term replacement for Steve Harmison in the national side, but his chronic fitness problems have seen him slip out of contention in recent years.

However, Surrey cricket manager Chris Adams backed the seamer by bringing him to the Oval in the winter and Tremlett, now fully fit, says he will repay that faith by taking a stackload of wickets for the Lions.

He said: "I guess my injury record speaks for itself, but when I have played I think I have done pretty well. The negative part of my career is that I have spent quite a while off the pitch and it has been a bit frustrating.

"One of the reasons I came to Surrey is to try to get a bit of a change in luck. I felt I needed a new start, a change of environment and somewhere new to bowl."

A groin injury kept Tremlett out of Surrey's first three Championship games, but the former ECN National Academy bowler hopes he can enjoy a decent run in the side and take advantage of the bouncy Oval pitches.

"I had a bit of a problem which was a little bit more serious than I first thought," he said.

"It was just unlucky really which seems to be the case with me. But hopefully that is behind me now and I can get on with moving us up the table.

"The Oval is not rapid like it used to be but it carries. That's the main thing, it does bounce and that showed in the first game. I'm not afraid of hard work but I do think the Oval is more suited to my bowling.

"The Rose Bowl has gone the other way. It used to have a lot of bounce, but last year they were a lot lower and slower and I think they have continued like that."

Tremlett showed glimpses of his potential on his Surrey debut against Gloucestershire at the Oval earlier this month. He took 4-35 in a blistering opening spell as the hosts dismissed the visitors for just 229 on the opening day.

Although the result went against the Lions, he says he was happy with his own display.

"I was very pleased. It was good to get off to a good start for the confidence. Getting a wicket with my second ball certainly helped with that. Obviously the result wasn't what we wanted, but from a personal point of view it was very good to get some wickets and some runs in the second innings.

"I'd played for the second team the week before and after that I was really stiff, but body wise I'm fine – it's just a case of getting back into it."

And if he can get back to his best, Tremlett insists he has not given up on adding to his collection of England caps, and admits still dreaming of making the plane to Australia this winter.

"I played three tests and I like to think I did pretty well," he said.

"I got off to a good start for England and I thought was pretty unlucky not to be included in the tour after that. Injuries have come along at the wrong time.

"That has been the case a few times, but there is not much I can do about it. I just have to accept it and find the form that I can. I still think that I am a good bowler and I can still bowl at the same pace. It's not that I can't do it but it is just a case of staying fit and showing selectors that I can stay fit and still have what it takes."

With England short of powerful, tall fast bowlers to take advantage of the expected tracks Down Under, Tremlett believes he has something to offer.

"In Australia the wickets do bounce and would suit my kind of bowling but I just need to stay on the park and have a consistent season. I need to go out there, keep getting six wickets a game, get more five-wicket hauls which I probably haven't got enough of then I'm sure people will start to talk about me again.

"I just need to have a real good season then we'll go from there. You have guys like [Steven] Finn out there and the guys who are in the team are bowling well. So there is competition, but if I can get 50 or 60 wickets then I'll have done all I can to be on the plane.

"I'm just taking it one game at a time at the moment. Take as many wickets as I can and try to put in as many match-winning performances as possible. If bigger things come they come, but if they don't I have been lucky enough to play for England. I'd do anything to get back there."

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