Phillip Hughes signs with South Australia – Cricket News Update
Marking the first interstate move of the 2012-13 domestic contracting window, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844.
Hughes, who has scored 3360 runs at 52.50 in the 38 first-class matches he has played for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, and made an immediate impact, becoming the youngest player to score a century in each of the innings during the second Test of the series in Durban (115, 160).
However, what followed was a disappointing slump in form, and the left-hander was eventually dropped. He played his last two Tests against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Graham-Downton-c44379 Cowan, who has proved promising, but has yet to earn a central contract – a circumstance which provides Hughes an opportunity to nudge his way back into the squad.
A further blow came earlier this month, when in wake of the recent signing of a new Cricket Australia pay deal for 2012-13, with the amount of central contracts reduced from 25 to 17, Hughes was among the handful of Blues’ players (Usman Khawaja, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SPD-Smith-c2555) who lost their national contracts. However, the opener remained unfazed, and is determined to regain his spot on the team via his performances in the domestic circuit.
“... I'm not going to leave any stone unturned to make sure I put myself back into contention to play again for Australia,” said Hughes. “Missing a Cricket Australia contract this year is not the end of the world ... in lots of ways it's a new beginning.”
In addition to his involvement in Australia’s domestic circuit, Hughes has also been playing for County club Worcestershire, for whom he recently scored two tons in the Clydesdale Bank 40, and two half-centuries in the Friends Life T20.
“The [http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Worcestershire-c866] organisation, their support of me and my ability to focus 100% on my game has been a real eye-opener and my form with the bat has obviously benefited from it,” Hughes said. “That's what I expect the move to Adelaide to also do for me.”
The addition of Hughes to the South Australia squad is likely to boost the Redbacks in a major way, after they failed to win a single Sheffield Shield match last summer, with skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Michael-Klinger-c76093 as the lone top-order batsman who managed to make any significant contributions in terms of runs.
The Blues, however, will be dealing with a sudden deficit of batsmen – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834. Pacer Brett Lee also recently turned down a New South Wales contract.
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