ROB QUINEY insists his focus is solely on Essex after missing out on Australia's Ashes squad.
The 30-year-old batsman won two Test caps in the series against South Africa in November, but after scoring nine in his only innings in the first, he bagged a pair in the second.
He has not featured for Australia since, and was not named in either their full squad or A squad for the summer tours to England.
But he remains upbeat about his international chances – although he knows he must score big runs for Essex first.
He said: "I wasn't surprised at all, I'm not disappointed.
"I know what I have to do if I was to get back into the side and that's to score a mountain of runs.
"Twenties and 50s aren't going to cut it I wouldn't have thought.
"My focus right now is purely on Essex and trying to do my best for them, and try and improve my cricket at the same time.
"If we can get some wins, the Ashes are still two or three months away. It's still a long time."
The Victorian, who is batting at three for Essex in this week's game with Hampshire due to the return of England captain Alastair Cook, is on a deal with Essex until the end of the Twenty20 campaign, but his omission from the Ashes party could pave the way for a longer stint in Chelmsford.
"It depends how I go really," he added. "If I pull my finger out and start making some big runs then possibly I will stay a bit longer. But our focus, and my focus right now, is Hampshire this week."
Despite being on the other side of the world, Quiney is settling in well in Essex – but after a disappointing start for the team, he is keen to get on the winning trail.
He added: "I'm enjoying myself at the moment but obviously I'll enjoy myself a lot more with a couple of wins and a few extra runs on the board.
"The conditions are as I expected. I've spoken to enough people about English conditions.
"They couldn't give me the heads up about training in snow, but you deal with that.
"My team-mates have been unbelievable to me. I couldn't ask for any better team-mates."
Essex begin their one-day campaign against Hampshire Royals under the lights at Chelmsford on Friday night, and Quiney is relishing his first taste of limited-overs cricket for the club. "I've heard the atmosphere here is fantastic," he said. "The Essex crowd are very loyal and passionate so I've been told and I can't wait to get out there in front of them and hopefully we can put on a good show."