White-ball call-up out of reach despite red-hot run

He boasts one of the best batting records in the history of Australia's one-day domestic competition, but Daniel Hughes says he's never felt close to an international call up in the format.

Despite attracting little fanfare over the past four years, Hughes has become an imposing figure on the domestic one-day scene; his career average of 55 is the fifth-highest in the competition's 51-year history.

But given both David Warner and Aaron Finch have expressed their desire to play on until at least the next ODI World Cup in 2023, and with the likes of Usman Khawaja – one of only four players with a higher one-day cup average than Hughes – still plundering runs at the level below, the Blues opener knows where he stands.

Image Id: 890F8C89811748C398F5831722301AFB Image Caption: Hughes and Warner are expected to open against Tasmania on Thursday // Getty

"To be honest, I haven't felt like I've been close just because of the players in front of me," Hughes told cricket.com.au recently.

"There's Warner, Finch is the captain, then there's Steve Smith, and guys like Matthew Wade and D'Arcy Short who aren't getting any games either, but they've been fantastic players for years. Ben McDermott as well.

"All I can do is keep turning up and scoring runs and hopefully they might think about me somewhere along the line.

"But apart from being picked in an A squad a few years ago (for a tour of South Africa that was ultimately cancelled due to the 2017 pay dispute), I haven't really thought about higher honours in one-day cricket.

"(Selector George Bailey said) that there's opportunities in the red-ball side of things ... and that I've probably got more of an opportunity there at the moment than in white-ball cricket because there are a few batting spots up for grabs (in the Test side), as everyone knows."

Having managed just a single in his opening game of this year's truncated Marsh Cup, Hughes will return from a shoulder injury for Thursday's match against Tasmania in Hobart, where he's expected to join Warner at the top of the order.

In the past four seasons of the domestic one-day tournament, only Redbacks veteran Callum Ferguson (from two more games than Hughes) has scored more runs than the left-hander's tally of 1302, which has included five hundreds.

The high point of this stretch was the two centuries he scored in just three days at the start of last summer against an all-international WA bowling attack, hammering the eventual Marsh Cup champions for a total of 264 runs across the two games.

With the backing of the Blues' coaching staff, he says having the knowledge of exactly what's needed when he walks out to bat has allowed him to flourish.

"I just think it's the nature of white-ball cricket and the opportunity to open the batting with two hard new balls and with only two fielders out," he said.

"My job is to bat through the innings and anchor an innings so guys can come in and bat around me.

"I've found a role there in the last few years with NSW and it's really clear.

"I know my game pretty well and I'm pretty experienced now. I go out there to just play nice cricket shots and target bowlers that I think are in my favour.

"But I never get too far outside my box; it's just all about playing nice cricket shots and doing what I do really well."

While comfortable in his role as a reliable opener, this summer's KFC BBL indicated he can take his one-day game to another level.

Shifted into the middle order for the Sydney Sixers, Hughes had an inconsistent season but managed to produce arguably the best innings of his career in any format, a match-winning 96 off 51 balls against the Melbourne Stars on the Gold Coast, including seven sixes.

While Hughes puts that innings down to good fortune as much as good judgement, he says it showed him what he's capable of.

"It's certainly opened my eyes to how differently I can go about things and how well I can strike the ball," he said.

"You're always trying to get better and that certainly opened my eyes up to say, 'I am capable of doing this'.

"It gives you confidence that if you're ever in that position again, you are able to do it."

Highest batting averages - Australian One-Day Cup

(minimum 10 innings)

1) Michael Bevan

M: 78 | Runs: 3243 | Ave: 61.18 | SR: 72.7 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 26 | NO: 25 | HS: 135no

2) Usman Khawaja

M: 50 | Runs: 2743 | Ave: 57.14 | SR: 87.30 | 100s: 9 | 50s: 14 | NO: 2 | HS: 166

3) Steve Smith

M: 45 | Runs: 1862 | Ave: 56.42 | SR: 89.00 | 100s: 3 | 50s: 13 | NO: 10 | HS: 143no

4) Julien Weiner

M: 20 | Runs: 1003 | Ave: 55.72 | SR: 72.23 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 10 | NO: 2 | HS: 108no

5) Daniel Hughes

M: 28 | Runs: 1320 | Ave: 55.00 | SR: 88.41 | 100s: 5 | 50s: 6 | NO: 3 | HS: 152

Most runs - Australian One-Day Cup, 2016-2019

1) Callum Ferguson (South Australia)

M: 27 | Runs: 1394 | Ave: 53.62 | SR: 97.4 | 100s: 6 | 50s: 3 | HS: 169

2) Daniel Hughes (New South Wales)

M: 25 | Runs: 1302 | Ave: 56.61 | SR: 88.8 | 100s: 5 | 50s: 6 | HS: 152

3) Moises Henriques (New South Wales)

M: 21 | Runs: 1052 | Ave: 58.44 | SR: 96.3 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 8 | HS: 164no

4) Tom Cooper (South Australia)

M: 26 | Runs: 1033 | Ave: 49.19 | SR: 93.3 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 7 | HS: 139

5) Nic Maddinson (Victoria/New South Wales)

M: 25 | Runs: 1008 | Ave: 42.00 | SR: 92.3 | 100s: 3 | 50s: 5 | HS: 137