22 May,2009 02:45 PM IST | | AFP
Australian Test opener Phillip Hughes said today he will head into this year's Ashes series full of confidence after his "Bradmanesque" stint in English county cricket.
The adventurous 20-year-old left-hander, named this week in Australia's 16-man squad for the upcoming five-Test series against England, earned comparisons with the immortal Donald Bradman following four hundreds for Middlesex in four weeks.
Hughes arrived home, saying he had benefited from playing at three of the five Ashes venues ahead of the Test series in July and August.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it and the preparation has been great to be honest," Hughes told reporters.
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"Lord's was obviously my home ground for Middlesex and I played at the Oval and Edgbaston as well. It couldn't have really worked out any better," he said.
"The big thing was just going over there to experience the whole different culture, the weather, the wickets and the bowlers as well."
He downplayed suggestions his time at Middlesex could also have worked in England's favour by giving them a chance to assess him before the series and allowing them to identify weaknesses.
Hughes's three First-Class hundreds and a one-day century enabled him to top another milestone set by Bradman.
Last year, the New South Wales youngster bettered Bradman's Sheffield Shield record for the greatest two-innings contribution to a team's game total and scored his first 1,000 domestic First-Class runs at a younger age than "The Don."
Hughes also surpassed Bradman's debut season in England.
Hughes scored 118 on debut against Glamorgan, 139 against Leicestershire and 195 against Surrey at the Oval to become the first Australian player to score centuries in his opening three First-Class games in England.
He plundered 574 runs from just five First-Class innings, while a 21-year-old Bradman amassed 556 runs in as many knocks in 1930.
"It is flattering (to be compared with) the world's best player and the best player anyone's ever seen," Hughes said.
Hughes became the youngest player in Test history to score two centuries in a match (115 and 160) against South Africa in Durban in March.
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