Mark Butcher intends to scratch a significant mark on what he believes is a clean slate for Test selection this summer.
The Surrey batsman's place in England's first choice XI has come under increasing pressure over the past 12 months, initially from Robert Key and most recently due to Kevin Pietersen's three oneday hundreds in South Africa.
Pietersen's scores have encouraged calls for his Test inclusion, while Warwickshire's Ian Bell has laid down a marker with an impressive half-century against the West Indies on debut last summer and further mature displays this winter.
But with Australia coming over for the Ashes this summer, Butcher hopes everyone will get a chance to stake a personal claim in the opening weeks of the season.
"I don't see it belongs to anybody at the moment so it will be a case of who puts most runs on the board," said Butcher.
"I just need to look at what I am doing, there is nothing I can do about Robert Key or Kevin Pietersen or whoever else for that matter. If Ian Bell scores tons of runs I have to score more - it's as simple as that.
"It's really a clean slate, I think. Certain people are going to play and the No 3 is the one slot up for grabs." Butcher, aged 32, will not have as much time to impress as his rivals.
The wrist problem which curtailed his winter on the eve of the Cape Town Test means he is 99 per cent certain to miss Surrey's opening County Championship contest.
He will probably not be back batting until the last week of April, giving him only three weeks to perform prior to the squad being named for the Lord's Test against Bangladesh on May 26.
Following a run of 42 consecutive Tests, a series of injuries has plagued Butcher since last July.
Yet he hopes his positive history against the Australians - he averaged more than 50 in the 2001 Ashes - will count in his favour should he prove his fitness.
"I have played about 20 Test matches against them so that counts for something," said Butcher.
"I have had some success against Australia, not an enormous amount, and that is perhaps part of the reason I got recalled four years ago."
Australia steamrollered their way to returning the urn in just 11 match-days in 2001, but English expectations are higher this summer, especially with Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison both fit and firing.
"There's a genuine belief that if there was a time to play Australia it is now and it would be a crime to throw this opportunity away," Butcher said.
