On the day Australian cricket marked 200 days until the World Cup, Phil Hughes laid down a marker of his own.
With his explosive 202 not out for Australia A in Darwin on Tuesday - only the second double hundred by an Australian in 50-over cricket - Hughes made a compelling case to be included in his country's World Cup plans despite not having been part of Australia's ODI squad since last October's tour of India.
His innings featured some remarkable shots - a hoik over midwicket for six among the most unorthodox - and surpassed David Warner's 197 for NSW last summer as the highest score by an Australian man in one-day cricket. But Belinda Clark's record of 229 not out against Denmark at the 1997 World Cup in Mumbai still stands.
Hughes' knock, against a South Africa A attack that included two bowlers with international experience, served as a timely reminder to the selectors ahead of next month's ODI series in Zimbabwe. With Warner sitting out that tour as he awaits the birth of his first child, there is an opener's spot up for grabs.
However, competition for top-order spots at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will be intense, with Warner, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson all possessing the power game needed for one-day cricket. Judging by the 49 balls it took for Hughes to rattle off his second hundred on Tuesday, not to mention his 18 fours and six sixes, he will not easily be left in the shade when it comes to explosiveness.
Hughes needed a boundary off the final ball of the innings to reach 200, and smacked a ball from Hardus Viljoen over the midwicket fence for six. Australia A posted a total 4-349 in the quadrangular series match at Marrara.
The 25-year-old Hughes is on a mission to reclaim his spots in the Test and ODI teams. Having fallen out of the Test side after being shuffled around the order in last year's Ashes in England, he was left to play for South Australia last summer before joining the Test squad in South Africa because of an injury to Shaun Marsh. Marsh recovered, leaving Hughes to carry the drinks, but he has excelled in both the long and short forms for Australia A since, having score an unbeaten century against India A in Brisbane.
He kept his Cricket Australia contract ahead of Test No. 3 Alex Doolan largely because he has a ranking from the selectors in 50-over cricket, and has two ODI centuries to his name from 20 matches.
