Worcester, England: Discarded Australian Test batsman Phil Hughes has switched allegiances from his home state of New South Wales to South Australia in an attempt to revive his international career.
"The next two years are the most critical in my cricket career," Hughes said in a statement on Thursday. "And I'm not going to leave any stone unturned to make sure I put myself back into content_cnion to play again for Australia."
The 23-year-old has not played a Test since December and last week was overlooked for a Cricket Australia (CA) contract. Hoping to add to his 17 Test caps, Hughes termed the snub as a chance to rebuild strongly. "Missing a CA contract this year is not the end of the world," he said. "In fact, in lots of ways it's a new beginning."
Hughes is currently playing English county cricket for Worcestershire, where he started the season with two 40-over centuries. He is currently the club’s leading run-scorer in the domestic Twenty20 competition.
Hughes’ arrival in SA will boost a batting attack reliant on the former captain, Michael Klinger. The current side is led by South African Johan Botha. SA have not won a Sheffield Shield game since November 2010, an unsuccessful streak of 16 matches.
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