It was Mike Yardy's sheer weight of runs which attracted the interest of the England selectors last season.

But Yardy believes his best chance of making a breakthrough at international level will be if his leftarm spin continues to develop.

The 25-year-old left-hander earned his place at the England Academy last winter after he broke through in spectacular style in 2005 with 1,520 first-class runs including a magnificent maiden double hundred against the Bangledeshi tourists last May.

The Loughborough experience was one of the highlights of his career but Yardy admits he didn't do himself justice in the tour to West Indies which followed.

After making 47 in the warm-up game against Antigua he struggled to make much of an impression opening the innings against strong West Indies teams.

For someone who would net all morning if he could find enough willing bowlers, the lack of decent practice facilities in the Caribbean left him frustrated - although he refuses to use it as an excuse for his disappointing returns.

He said: "I had some promising performances but I don't feel I did myself justice.

"I didn't practice as well as I wanted to. The facilities weren't great and the sessions were quite short whereas I like to practice for a long time and then relax.

"And I didn't practice to the standard I needed to so I let myself down in that way. I feel I got a lot out of the Academy part at Loughborough but you get judged by the results so not to follow it up with a good tour was really disappointing."

While Yardy was struggling some of his peers were taking advantage of unexpected opportunities. Alistair Cook made a century and Owais Shah 88 on debut when they were called-up for the Test series in India.

It left Yardy with the realisation that he needs another string to his bow if he is to fulfil his England dreams. Which is where that latent talent as a slow bowler is crucial to his development.

There were occasions in one-day cricket last season when Yardy was the most effective Sussex bowler on show. His 6-27 at Edgbaston in the totesport League last August - the third-best one-day figures in the county's history - was the undoubted highlight.

Moores was impressed with the way his bowling developed at the Academy. "It's come on a lot," he said. "The thing about Yards is that he listens and works hard but there is a lot of natural ability there as well."

Of course Chris Adams won't be short of bowling options this summer but Yardy wants to play his part.

He said: "There are so many good young batsmen around and perhaps I'm not as stylish as some of them so if I want to progress my England career I need my bowling to make the difference.

"I definitely feel my bowling has pushed on to a new level.

I worked a lot on my alignment at the Academy, I bowled a lot straighter and with a lot more consistency. "I'm looking for a bigger role in one-day cricket. I might still be a sixth bowler but I want to bowl my nine or ten overs in every game."

Back to batting and there is more pressure on Yardy than at any time in his Sussex career.

The retirement of Ian Ward has left Sussex's top order looking a little bit vulnerable and although it might be asking too much to expect him to score 1,500 runs again he knows he has to deliver.

The key, he says, is to stay relaxed. "Last year I had no idea what I could achieve so I went with the flow and kept saying to myself I would end up with the runs I deserved - that it would happen for a reason," he said.

"It's important that I just concentrate on the processes and not look at big targets, just take every ball and every innings as it comes. I know it's a cliche but it works for me."

The most eye-catching part of Yardy's resurgence was the sheer quality, as much as the quantity, of his runs last season. Never regarded as much of a stylist before, Yardy nonetheless unveiled some terrific shots.

That unusual method, where he shuffles into the line of the ball from well outside leg stump, won't be found in any coaching manual but it clearly works for him.

"I've realised that every run doesn't have to come from a textbook shot," he said. "I'm not going to play the perfect innings every time, that there are going to be some scratchy innings but if the end result is a good score then that's fine."

Sussex supporters won't mind how the runs come either. Just as long as there are plenty of them.