Damien Martyn is prepared to bide his time and wait for his Test chance to come along.

On the fringe of the Australian Test side, Martyn scored a century in the opening tour game at Worcester and knows that he must keep making runs to remind the selectors of his value.

The 29-year-old endured a six-year exile from Test cricket before regaining his spot briefly against New Zealand 14 months ago and then for one Test against the West Indies on their recent tour.

Martyn said: "I'm the fringe player in the sense of being the spare batsman for the Test side. It's a very important tour and I want to do well and keep my name up there in front of the selectors.

"Nowadays it sits all right with me. In days gone by, perhaps, it didn't sit so well and you can get frustrated.

"You are making runs and you want to get back in there but it sits well now. I've been given a second chance. I'm back in the squad.

"I've just got to keep making runs. We been lucky that we have had Steve and Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor and David Boon - guys who played a big amount of cricket over the last 15 years.

"I missed the 1997 Ashes tour and I'd love to be out there playing in a Test match but if I've got to wait then I will.

"After being out of it so long, then I'm just happy to be back amongst it and a five-Test series is better for me in terms of having a chance."

Martyn made 108 out of the Australians' 351 all out on the first day of the match at New Road but he is not exactly classing the innings amongst his top knocks.

"It wasn't that great," he said. "It was scratchy at times. We've only had a couple of nets. I was just really trying to stay out there as long as I could.

"I know that hours you spend at the crease now mean a lot later on in the tour so that was my main goal today.

"It's been good. We have only been here a couple of days and we're all a bit rusty still so just to have time in the middle was good.

"I think as batsman that was our goal in this game. That's what Steve (Waugh) and the coach wanted us to do leading up to the One-Day Internationals starting next week. They wanted us to practise the basics and do them well.

"Our main goal was to try and bat all day and use it for the practice it is - the sort of practice you can't beat.

"The wicket was slow coming from India where the wickets were flat. It's about adjustment to everything -- conditions, the weather etc. When we do that you'll see the guys hitting their straps.

"It was hard to get in on that wicket but once you got in it got easier as the day went on and there were some short boundaries."

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