One of the most unfortunate cricketers to be denied a long international career wants to use his own harsh experiences to inspire Middlesex's aspirants to fulfil their England ambitions this season.
Stuart Law was an imperious batsman with Queensland and had a long county career with Essex, Lancashire and Derbyshire but made only one Test appearance at a time in the 90s when his face did not fit among Australia's golden generation.
Now, having emerged from a top-quality field that included Paul Farbrace and Mark Ramprakash to become Middlesex coach in the second division, Law wants to use the frustration he suffered to galvanise his new charges.
Stuart Law wants to use his international frustration to galvanise his Middlesex charges
Law was an imperious batsman with Queensland and had a long career in the county game
Steven Finn and Toby Roland-Jones are two England bowlers taking tentative steps back at Lord's after serious injury, Dawid Malan and Sam Robson find themselves on the outside having had tastes of Test cricket and Nick Gubbins is one of the most promising openers in the country.
'A lot of our players have been unlucky in selection and I can relate to that,' Law told Sportsmail. 'I can sit down and talk to them from personal experience.
'Robbo has probably been the harshest done by if you look at his record. It's pretty good compared to who's playing for England at the moment.
'I see him go about his business and the questions he asks and he's good at what he does. It's about how much they all want it.'
While Law believes Robson — who hit a century in his second Test five years ago before becoming one of England's army of discarded openers after seven appearances — is unlucky, it is the familiar figure of Finn who will perhaps command most attention at Lord's this season.
It was not too long ago that Finn looked likely to become the leader of England's attack with bowling capable of hitting in excess of 90mph, but a series of setbacks was followed by injury problems culminating in a knee condition Law describes as 'horrific'.
He beat a top quality field including Paul Farbrace to become the Middlesex coach
Now, approaching his 30th birthday, Finn is back and, his new coach believes, again doing what he does best after becoming confused in his methods.
'Finny has been given a lot of information from too many different voices that might have clouded him,' said Law, 50.
'I remember playing against him when he first came into county cricket and it was like facing Curtly Ambrose. There were no drives or pulls and he didn't try to swing the ball.
'He just hit a hard length and bowled fast. That works. It worked for Ambrose and it worked for Glenn McGrath so get back to doing that.
'Don't worry about swinging it because if it swings it will be a bonus. If he keeps believing that, he
