Matthew Wade admitted it had been a long wait for this week's international recall.
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Having dominated domestic cricket by scoring 1800 runs across all formats this summer, the Tasmanian wicket-keeper feels he has a point to prove after being selected for the Australia A squad to tour England ahead of the Ashes.
In contrast, Wade's Tasmanian teammate Jackson Bird was delighted to be joining him having thought his international days were over.
"It's been a little bit frustrating over the last 12 months," Wade said.
"I've felt like I've been playing good enough cricket to be able to contribute to the Australian cricket team in some way.
"I'm batting better than I've ever batted ... and you would hope it's looked at over a long period of time and not just a few games.
"I'm happy to get the opportunity to go to England and show what I can do and hopefully earn a spot on the Ashes tour - that's probably the aim of a lot of people going over there.
"I feel like I've matured a lot. I know my game probably better than I've ever known it."
Wade was named captain of the Sheffield Shield team of the year after amassing 1021 runs at 60.05 and was also awarded Tasmania's player of the season.
The Hobart-born 31-year-old felt the return to Bellerive from Victoria had improved his prospects in English conditions.
"For me it's going to be about going over there and trying to do what I've done for Tassie which is win games of cricket on a consistent basis.
"Hopefully all the other players go over there with the same mindset and we can have an enjoyable time and win games and that will contribute to individual success.
"I just want to get over there and enjoy it."
Bird, 32, said it was "pretty exciting" to be handed the chance to add to his nine Test matches which included a cameo role in the Ashes.
"I probably thought this time 12 months ago that I was done playing for Australia so it's a good opportunity to put my name forward again and potentially be part of an Ashes series - probably the biggest series in world cricket and a career highlight of mine from 2013," he said.
"It was pretty special to get the call last week and a bit of a relief after a lot of chat over the last couple of months."
Bird has a Test best of 5-59 but struggled in his two Ashes appearances, recording 0-108 in the second innings at the MCG in 2017.
Asked if he had been working on his batting since that had previously been cited as a reason for his non-selection, the Sydney-born quick played a straight bat.
"I haven't put any extra time into my batting. I've probably turned into a cowboy with the bat which is a bit more exciting than getting five off 30 balls and then nicking one. That's been pretty fun but speaking with the coaches I feel I can get a lot more out of my batting so probably need to temper that aggression a little bit."