OVERSEAS ace Phil Hughes has hailed the impact County director of cricket Steve Rhodes has already had on his game in his short stint with Worcestershire.

The 23-year-old left-hander burst onto the international scene in 2009 and soon became the youngest player to score back-to-back hundreds in the same match, in his second Test against South Africa in Durban.

However, after playing 17 Tests for the Baggy Greens, a run of poor scores and a perceived weakness outside off stump lead to an increasing crescendo of calls for him to be axed.

The Cricket Australia selectors soon heeded the demands for Hughes, who averages 34.58 for his country with three centuries, to be dropped and he also recently missed out on a central contract.

In a bid to regain his place at the top of the Australia batting order, Hughes signed on as Worcestershire’s overseas pro for the 2012 season and he believes working closely with former England wicketkeeper-batsman Rhodes has been a revelation.

Hughes has hit the ground running in county cricket with 231 runs at an average of 77 in 40-over matches and 277 at 69.25 in six Twenty20 starts.

“Steve has been outstanding with the technical side of things and you play a lot of cricket over here,” Hughes said “It is a good thing when you score runs and have momentum. I feel like I have expanded my game a little bit, worked on things and, confidence is sky high.

“The next two years are the most critical in my cricket career and I’m not going to leave any stone unturned to make sure I put myself back into contention to play again for Australia.”

Another dimension in his crusade to return to the international stage has seen Hughes opt to switch state sides back in Australia and, when he heads back Down Under at the end of the English season, he will be playing for South Australia instead of New South Wales.

Hughes has a long history of success at the Adelaide Oval, having made 475 runs in his three most recent Sheffield Shield visits to South Australia, including scores of 198 and 192.

He said: “It is a big move for me, but I know I will be better for this as a cricketer and person. It wasn’t an easy decision.

“My gut feeling said to me that I needed to change. I do have age on my side and I really want to get back in the Australia set-up, but know I have to score runs.”

Hughes said he had enormous respect for his former Australia coach Tim Nielsen, who is now the head coach of the Emerging Redbacks programme, and the South Australia director of cricket Jamie Cox, a former national selector who played a role in Hughes’ emergence as an international batsman.