Maddinson keeps recall at arm's length

Every domestic cricketer in the country knows they're only a few good performances away from putting themselves in the mix for a huge winter of international cricket, but Nic Maddinson's only plan for the coming months is to remove a 10cm metal bar from his arm.

Maddinson's extraordinary start to life in his new state continued Monday against reigning JLT Sheffield Shield champions Queensland as he posted his second century in as many first-class games for Victoria.

The three-Test batsman, who departed New South Wales last year after losing his state contract, broke his arm in December in his Victorian Shield debut having earlier piled on 162.

Now sporting a hefty scar on his right forearm, Maddinson admits he's still getting accustomed to the feel of batting after the surgery.

"It feels a bit different – it obviously takes some getting used to," he told reporters on Monday. "From other guys who have had a similar sort of injury, they've said it takes 12-18 months before it's felt normal again.

"Once I found that out, I could relax a little more and just enjoy playing. If I had to go about it a different way, just accepting it.

"The last message I got was that it might need to come out, the bit of metal in there, in the off-season … It's pretty rigid in there at the moment."

"I'll just see how that goes and see what my plans are moving forward."

Maddinson averaged just 11.50 in a lean maiden KFC Big Bash campaign with the Melbourne Stars, but his first-class form will undoubtedly have piqued the interest of national selectors who clearly rate the left-hander highly.

Prior to moving to Victoria, Maddinson went three years and 23 first-class games scoring just a single first-class century, yet that ton (116 against Western Australia in November 2016) helped vault him into the Test side during the 2016-17 summer.

This year’s Australia A tour of the United Kingdom that precedes the Ashes looms as a major carrot for standout performers in the Shield, but Maddinson insists it's the furthest thing from his mind.

"I don't really care, I'm not really thinking about it," he said when asked about his national ambitions. "I wasn't really expecting to be playing Shield cricket, if at all this year, so I’m just happy to get that opportunity.

"Honestly I don't really care whether I score no runs or whether I score heaps of runs for the rest of the year – I'm just happy playing.

"It's probably the most I've enjoyed cricket this year.

"This environment – whether that's something to do with it, it probably is, I'm having a really good time."

While Maddinson believes he's benefited greatly from the Victorian program since joining it, he also suggests his personal maturing as a batsman has been a key factor in his good touch.

The 27-year-old said that despite feeling "a little bit scratchy" in his 108 against Queensland, he was able to soak up periods of pressure and slow-scoring better than he has previously.

"That's one thing I've improved on this year, is just riding the ebbs and flows of four-day cricket," he explained. "I felt like I had a scratchy 70 and then a good 30 before I got out.

"(I'm) a year older, probably don’t care as much about the scoreboard or how I’m going and scoring runs.

"I've done it enough times, I feel like I can recognise those moments and just accept it a little more rather than trying to push my way through it playing the same way."