5:54pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010
PHIL Jaques has warmed up for his third Worcestershire stint by smashing the second-highest one-day score in Australian domestic cricket history.
The 30-year-old cracked an unbeaten 171, a record for New South Wales Blues, from 143 balls in a six-run Ford Ranger Cup victory over Queensland Bulls.
The former Test opener, who returns to New Road at the start of April, now has three of the top 10 scores in Australian domestic one-day cricket.
He has finally returned to full fitness after a back injury, which included three operations in the space of six months.
“It was just good to kick on and finally get a good score,” said Jaques, whose last domestic century came in August 2007 for Worcestershire.
“After what I went through with my back, it is just good to be out there swinging the willow.”
Having not featured for the Baggy Greens since 2008 when he scored a century against the West Indies in his final appearance, Jaques is trying not to get carried away about the prospects of a recall with this rich vein of form.
“If it happens, then great, but I am not thinking too far ahead to be honest,” he said.
“I think I have been forgotten for a couple of years in one-dayers.
“But there are a lot of good cricketers playing great cricket around the country and my form has been a little bit scratchy in the one-day stuff.”
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