South Australia opener Phil Hughes is prepared to remodel himself as a middle order player to help regain a place in Australia's Test team.
Hughes moved to the top of the Sheffield Shield runs tally after his classy 127 not out put the Redbacks in a strong position against Victoria at the MCG on Saturday.
The left-hander has enjoyed improved consistency since joining South Australia from home state New South Wales, scoring 479 runs in five matches for his new team this season.
At roughly the same time Hughes was thrusting his bat into the air to celebrate a 157-ball century that included 14 boundaries, Australia was suffering another costly batting collapse.
That only enhances the 23-year-old's chances of adding to his 17 Tests.
And despite forging his international and first-class careers as an opener, Hughes said he was open to playing in the middle order.
"Going forward I am not sure what position is my right position – it could be [anywhere from] one to six," Hughes said at stumps after powering the Redbacks to 2-244 in reply to Victoria's 346.
"In a couple of formats over in England I batted No.3 and really enjoyed that position.
"If a slot came up anywhere in any team I feel like I am ready," he said.
Hughes believes he's a more-rounded player since his career hit a low point last year when he was dropped from the Australian team after averaging just 10 in December's Test series against New Zealand.
"I'm not going to go into what I have worked on but it has really opened up my leg-side play. There's no doubt about that," he said.
"I'm in decent nick at the moment and when I'm seeing them like this I want to make the most of it.
"This season has probably been the most consistent for me across all formats. At times it can be tough to juggle so that's probably the most pleasing thing is scoring runs in both the one-day and four-day format," he said.
Victorian all-rounder John Hastings said Hughes had become a harder batsman to dismiss this summer.
"[From] watching him in the Ryobi Cup and also today, he looks a really solid player at the moment," Hastings said.
"I think he has got his game pretty well sorted out. I've never seen him pull the ball as well as this before and he is certainly moving his feet and driving as well as ever."
First Posted 24 November, 2012 9:52PM AEST
