Jason Gallian feared the worst as soon as the Vasbert Drakes delivery thudded into his hand. He was 23 not out in his comeback match at Edgbaston, his first CricInfo Championship innings of the season

"I knew straight away it was broken," Gallian tells CricInfo with the weariness of one who knows all too much about such things.

"It's not great," he says with obvious understatement. "I'm told I'll be back in 3-6 weeks but the season has only six weeks to run so…"

The disappointment is palpable in Gallian's voice. It was a devastating blow for the Nottinghamshire captain. He is an ambitious skipper of an ambitious club and to make matters worse, ten-man Notts slipped to a heavy defeat in his absence – a performance Gallian describes as "soft".

"We needed a result in that game," Gallian explains. "We were chasing a total and made some errors. It's been dealt with," he says with finality.

For those who have seen him at his best, Gallian is eminently of Test class, reminiscent of a slimmed down Mike Gatting. His triple-century (312) against Derbyshire for Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1996 was the highest ever score at the ground – and a few decent players have batted there.

He scored a century against England's Young Cricketers while captaining Australia's Young Cricketers in 1989, and when he finally became eligible for England in 1994 after a period captaining Oxford University, there were high hopes that a place in the England side may be his for a decade.

But luck has been cruel to Gallian. He broke a finger in his first Test innings, as the West Indies overwhelmed England on a controversial Edgbaston pitch in 1995. A knee injury kept him out of cricket until the start of August this year, and now a broken knuckle has thwarted his return.

"It's hugely frustrating," he admits, with the regret of one who has seen elaborate plans for the season turn to dust.

"I'm sure I can still offer England a couple of good years. If I didn't think I could play for England I wouldn't carry on playing county cricket. But there's no point talking about it, I have to get out there and score some runs."

He agrees that Nottinghamshire's season to date has been characterised by good individual performances but admits to some disappointment that promotion in the CricInfo Championship looks unlikely.

"Several of the batsmen have scored heavily, but we've not really produced it as a team," he reasons.

"Perhaps we've lacked a bit of penetration with the ball, but Greg Smith has done well. Losing Paul Franks has been a big loss, though.

"Pietersen has done particularly well. He's hit about 900 runs and though he's a bit raw as off-spinner, he is only 20 and I expect the selectors have their eye on him for some sort of tour – perhaps with the Academy.

"Usman Afzaal has had a great year-and-a-half too," Gallian continues. "He deserved his England call-up and I'm sure it will be the first of many."

Gallian, desperate to get back into action, now finds himself trying to keep his distance from the dressing room. It's a difficult balancing act for a club captain.

"I've still got a fair amount to do around the place, and I'm doing a little training as my knee is not fully recovered yet. But Darren Bicknell has taken over the reins of captaincy and I have to step back. In no way do I want to interfere with the guy who has to lead the team on to the field."

A faint twang betrays Gallian's Australia roots, and as a former team-mate of many of the players who are currently proving such tough opponents for England, few people are in a better position to judge the merits of the sides.

"I captained Damien Martyn for Australia Under-19s and toured in the West Indies with Bevan and Warne. I know several of them pretty well so it is a little strange to watch. Of course I support England but to be honest I like all the guys I know to do well."

He has no plans for the winter. "I'm keeping my options open," he says. "But if someone makes me an offer to play somewhere in the winter I'll be very interested indeed.

"I've got a 12-week old boy, so I'm keeping myself pretty busy at home," he says.

For England's sake, as well as Nottinghamshire's, let's hope he's pretty busy playing cricket next summer.

© CricInfo Ltd.