Compton made his Middlesex first-team debut in the Norwich Union League at the end of the 2001 season, batting at six he scored just 6 runs from 9 deliveries in a 40 run defeat by Glamorgan. His promising performances for Middlesex's Under-19s and Second XI led him to receive the NBC Denis Compton Award, named after his grandfather, awarded to the most promising Middlesex player for 2001. The following winter, he was selected for the England Under-19s squad to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in January and February 2002. Compton played in five of England's six matches as they reached the second group stage, Compton scoring 133 runs with one 50 at an average of 23.