'Resilient' Agar determined to persist in all formats

Ashton Agar says he hasn't closed the door on his Test career just yet, revealing he is just focused on playing cricket no matter what colour the ball.

Agar heads back to India early Thursday morning, responding to the disappointment of missing selection during the Border Gavaskar Test series by helping Western Australia to consecutive Marsh One-Day Cup titles with his career-best List A performance for the state.

The 29-year-old claimed 5-64 in WA's 181-run rout of South Australia, which was the left-armer's third Australian domestic triumph after missing last year's dual Marsh Cup and Sheffield Shield titles due to national squad commitments.

But Agar revealed he is determined to keep looking forward rather than what could have been after heading to India for the four Test series as one of Australia's incumbent spinners before missing the XI in the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi.

"They felt I wasn't bowling as well as I needed to be and that's fair enough," Agar said after the Marsh Cup final.

"It's a very clear direction forward for me now to just work on it and improve.

"I harbour no ill will or ill feeling at all, I'm very well supported in that camp, and they've kept in constant communication with me … so it's all in a good place.

"I've always wanted to play as much as I could for Australia in whatever format that is and just take my opportunities when they come.

"It's a tough game. It's a ruthless environment. And that's how it should be because it's the pinnacle of the sport.

"Playing for Australia in all forms, of course, I still want to do that.

"But my focus is just … on cricket, you just play what's in front of you and you try and do as well as you can."

In front of him on Wednesday afternoon was a fast-starting South Australian outfit in pursuit of WA's record Marsh Cup final total of 7-387 with the Redbacks openers Kelvin Smith and Henry Hunt keeping up with the hefty rate until Agar and veteran Andrew Tye intervened.

Agar took four of the first six Redbacks wickets to fall to reduce the visitors to 6-129 before returning to seal victory with the last wicket of Spencer Johnson.

"It's just nice to play a game, be out in the middle, feel that pre-game anxiety when you're walking out to bat a little bit nervous," Agar said.

"I love those feelings and I forget how much I love them because I haven't played too much recently.

"I've been really lucky to see this group of (WA) players come up for 10 years and now they're reaping all the rewards of a lot of hard work.

"Personally, I'm very proud, I love playing with these guys. They're my best friends and we have a really good time out there and I think that's why we're successful."

Agar is tipped to play a key role in the ODI series against India beginning on March 17 in Mumbai as Australia ramp up their preparations for the 50-over World Cup in the subcontinent nation in October-November.

He's also thrown his name in ring for a Hundred stint post India to get some cricket under his belt during the winter before Australia's next white-ball series in South Africa in September.

"I'm feeling really good, emotionally and (with) the mental side of things, I've put so much work into that," Agar said.

"I've been a professional cricketer for 10 years now so I'm far more resilient than when I started, and I've learned to focus on what's important, so I feel pretty calm heading over there (to India).

"I've got to play some one-day cricket over there before, so I certainly know what I'm in for and it's going to be a really big challenge, there's no doubt about that."