Marcus North confident he's the man at No. 6

Marcus North has defended his position as Australia's Test No. 6 and will use the next few weeks in Sheffield Shield cricket to try to regain his best form ahead of the tour of New Zealand. North is the only one of Australia's batting line-up who failed to fire against Pakistan and he finished the summer with 207 runs at 23 from six Tests.

North is not part of Australia's one-day plans, so he can use the next few weeks to work on his first-class game before the two Tests in New Zealand in March. He hoped his strong performances in his debut series in South Africa and then in the Ashes would keep him in the selectors' plans.

"I think I've proven that [I should be the Test No. 6] against South Africa and England, and showed glimpses against the West Indies," North told AAP. "I feel that I'm the man and that I bring good balance to the side with my bowling, even though I didn't get much of a go at [it] this summer.

"I just want to go back to make some runs and hopefully make sure I'm on the New Zealand tour. I would have liked to definitely score more runs. The series against the West Indies wasn't too bad, but Pakistan was pretty disappointing and lean for me."

Ricky Ponting said after the Hobart Test that North was not a weak link in the side and hoped he would be part of the starting line-up for the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington. North is likely to have three Sheffield Shield games to regain his touch before the trip.

"It's always nice to be supported publicly," North said. "I know that I have the backing of my team-mates and the skipper behind the change-room door, but for it to be said in the media is quite nice. The good thing is that they [the selectors] are backing me as well.

"Before the Test match I had a chat to them and they are confident, like I am, that I'm feeling good and it's just a matter of time. Everyone goes through a little bit of a down time in their career and it has been my turn over the last month."