Former Hampshire wicketkeeper Bobby Parks has backed Nic Pothas's England credentials.

Parks won three one-day trophies during a 12-year career with Hampshire - and still holds the county’s record for most dismissals (1,003 in all cricket).

For the last two years he has been coaching Pothas, who qualified to play for England when he was awarded British citizenship in February, and Hampshire’s other wicketkeepers.

Essex’s James Foster, widely regarded as the best gloveman in the country, was surprisingly selected ahead of Sussex’s Matt Prior and Worcestershire’s Steven Davies in England’s World Twenty20 squad yesterday.

Prior, who responded with a Championship century for Sussex against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, is England’s first-choice wicketkeeper in both other forms of the game.

But Parks believes in-form Hampshire captain Pothas, who played three one-day internationals for South Africa in 2000, should be in serious contention to play Tests and ODIs for England.

He said: "There’s not much to choose between their batting but I believe Nic’s a better keeper than Matt Prior.

"Matt’s a more attacking batter than Nic but if you look at the whole package I certainly think Nic would do a better job for England.

"He’s in good shape and I hope they haven’t written him off."

Pothas, 35, broke Parks' record for the number of catches in an innings when he held on to seven against Lancashire at Old Trafford three years ago - and is thriving as Hampshire captain in the absence of Dimitri Mascarenhas.

He scored an unbeaten 122 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston last week, before hitting 65* in the second innings to save the game and then contributing 74 against Sussex at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.

Parks continued: "Nic’s an interesting character. I’m very technically biased as a coach but Nic is very untechnical as a keeper.

"He’s very much a thinker and a huge practiser of the game. He’s a guy who will go and catch 100 balls and originally didn’t think too much about technique - he just wanted to catch, catch, catch and got better because he caught a lot.

"That’s the way he plays, he’s a really talented individual who catches flies, but I brought a technical way of doing it which has made him think and change his style a little bit and he enjoys that.

"It gives him a new challenge - and he loves a challenge. Hopefully I’ve made him a better keeper in the last couple of years."

Parks, the son of Sussex legend and former England wicketkeeper Jim Parks, is also pleased that Foster is still on England’s radar.

He said: "Being a keeper myself, I would always prefer the better keeper and Foster has risen to the top of the pile.

"He’s probably not as good a batter as Prior but has proved he can get stuck in and is certainly a better wicketkeeper. He deserves another go at it."

Parks added: "There are a few other good ones around. Davies was here the other week and although I was a little disappointed with him in our first innings, he kept very well in our second innings.

"He’s definitely putting pressure on others like Tim Ambrose, who is another decent all-round cricketer."

Read Bobby Parks’ views on Hampshire’s other wicketkeepers in this weekend’s Pink