The thought of playing Test cricket for Australia is still on the mind of Nic Maddinson and the southpaw's move to New South Wales from Victoria ahead of the upcoming Sheffield Shield 2024-25 season is a step taken in that direction.
Maddinson struck three centuries in the second half of the Sheffield Shield 2023-24 season while playing for Victoria before he missed the entire first half with an ACL injury.
"Probably (think about it) most days to be fair," Maddinson told in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. "Obviously throughout the winter and off season you have other stuff and family at home, but when you start coming into cricket, we've been outdoor training on the centre wickets, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc have started to roll through, it's hard not to think about the progression of your career.
"I love playing the game and want to help New South Wales win but also from a personal point of view still feel like I offer something at international cricket and would love to have that chance again. There's a lot of motivations for people and still playing for Australia is there for me."
The Australian selectors gave Maddinson a run of three Test matches in 2016 at home and decided to move on from him after he failed to cash in.
Maddinson scored 27 runs in three games and averaged a meagre 6.75 with the bat in hand in four innings. However, the southpaw believes and his recent Shield record suggests that he is a "much better player" than what he was a few years ago.
"Ten times better, maybe more," he mentioned. "Think I'm probably a much better player than I was even three or four years ago. Felt like Shield runs last year were pretty hard to come by on some of the wickets we got dished up. Opening the batting was always a great spot to bat but it was never really my strength. To be able to score the runs I did last year gave me a lot of confidence, being able to adapt and play a different style. As you look to progress career you have to adapt and last year felt I really made some good progress."
Maddinson will be in action for Sydney Thunder in the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) after enduring a few forgettable seasons with Melbourne Renegades and expects the switch to bring a turnaround in terms of fortunes.
"I've been pretty disappointed with how I've been probably since I left the Sydney Sixers (in 2018) to be fair," he said. "I really found it challenging going into BBL off not much cricket (last season) having had such a long break. For me, what's important is having a decent block of longer-form cricket to channel into BBL and then expand your game from there.
"There's definitely stages in people's careers where you have a bit of a lull in formats and can bounce back. Last year was a bit disappointing for me because the only thing holding me back from feeling like I was going to do well was just the amount of game time. There were a few technical changes and bad habits I'd got into from practising for T20 that took away from the overall structure of my batting. Going forward it's about trying to find a game plan that works regardless of where I fit in in the order."
