NSW youngster Phil Hughes slingshot his way to the brink of selection for next month’s South African tour as his chief rival Phil Jaques made an unhappy return to first-class cricket.
With a Test opening spot up for grabs, Hughes (151) posted his fourth Sheffield Shield century of the summer against Tasmania in Newcastle on Friday to further fuel his growing reputation.
It wasn’t such a memorable day for Jaques (9).
In his first four-day fixture since back surgery, the 11-Test opener only lasted a quarter of an hour before being bowled by paceman Gerard Denton.
In a bid to get his batting fix, Jaques had a hit in the nets at the Newcastle No.1 Sports Ground as Hughes starred in the middle in front of national selector Jamie Cox.
With the South African touring party named following the current round of Sheffield Shield matches, the pressure was on both Jaques and Hughes to produce.
And that is just what Hughes did, striking 22 fours in his 248-ball knock on a good batting track to provide further proof he is capable of handling the spotlight.
His innings put NSW on top before Simon Katich (102no off 110 balls) steamrolled the tiring Tigers to push the Blues to 3-356 at stumps with Dominic Thornely unbeaten on 42.
Jaques and Hughes had walked out to bat together in front of a modest crowd knowing each was the other’s biggest challenge for a spot in the national side.
Jaques scored a hundred in his last appearance in the baggy green and his past form must have had him slightly in front of Hughes at the selection table.
But Hughes’ polished performance has muddied the situation.
Jaques looked in good nick before a Denton inswinger knocked back his off stump – his only other effort since surgery being five in Sydney grade cricket last weekend.
Hughes played a steady hand in the opening two sessions, putting together a low-risk innings but still managing to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
He celebrated his ton just before tea with gusto alongside Blues captain Katich, the pair possible opening partners for the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg starting February 26.
Hughes started hitting out in the last session, putting aspiring Test spinner Jason Krejza (1-115 off 29 overs) over the long-on boundary before being caught at mid-on chancing his arm once too often.
Katich then took up the baton as the Blues belted 191 runs in the last session with the NSW skipper clubbing 20 runs off one Krejza over.
If Hughes’ defence looked rock solid at the crease, it was even better against the media after stumps.
With all the speculation surrounding his stunning rise through the Australian cricketing ranks, he played a straight bat to the latest round of questions regarding a possible national call-up.
“There has been talk and what not, but that is not in my mind, where I was today was just focusing on playing for NSW,” he said.
He said he hadn’t felt under any additional pressure despite being so heavily in the mix for a Test call up.
“No not at all, I just take it as another day of cricket and another day of playing for NSW and it was good to score runs again,” he said.
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