Phil Hughes says the English county mentor who reinvented him as a Test batsman will play a key role in his Ashes preparation.
Hughes credits Worcestershire coach Steve Rhodes with breathing new life into his career in 2012 after he was dumped from the Test side midway through the 2011/12 summer.
The 24-year-old says Rhodes helped him believe in himself again after three years of slipping in and out of the Australian side.
As fate would have it, Australia’s final tune-up game before their arduous five-Test Ashes campaign is against his former County teammates at New Road, Worcester.
Hughes has already pencilled in a few catch-ups with Rhodes, before he is thrust into the firing line of the England attack.
After lasting just two Test matches of the 2009 Ashes in the UK, Hughes heads into this series under immense pressure, with the English press ready to reapply the spotlight to the left-hander.
Hughes admits touching base with Rhodes on the eve of the first Test at Trent Bridge on July 10 will serve as a valuable confidence booster.
“Yeah, it will be. I still keep in touch with Steve Rhodes. He’s a great man and he really looked after me over there,” Hughes told AAP.
“We’ll lock in a couple of dinners. I’ll be catching up with all the boys over there – it’s a wonderful club.
“The main thing Steve gave me was belief and confidence. He’s a real hard-working coach and that’s one thing I really liked.
“He loves work ethic. He really gave me that freedom to go out there and play my way and that was the pleasing thing.”
English quicks Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson had the ball seaming around everywhere in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s this week, enough to make Australia’s top order more than a little nervous.
Hughes was devoured by Andrew Flintoff and Anderson back in 2009, struggling to handle the English conditions.
Australia’s disastrous 4-0 loss to India earlier this year was another battle for Hughes, but he held his rock-solid temperament to finish the series relatively strongly.
Hughes says he’s better equipped to handle the pressure-cooker of an Ashes series this time around but, at the heart of his plan, is to be himself.
“I remember, four years ago, the disappointment in the sheds after the last Test and it wasn’t a nice feeling,” he said.
“I think personally I’m a lot more mature player now. I feel like I’m a lot more solid in the way I go about things and I’m a lot more confident now.
“I’ve always wanted to play my own way and that’s still how I do it.”