McDermott has not played for Australia since November 2019, but is one of several players set to benefit from Test stars not playing against the Black Caps.

The 26-year-old is realistic his best chance will come batting in the middle order, despite impressing up top for Hobart in the Big Bash League this summer.

In his initial 12-match stint as an Australian player, McDermott failed to have a strike rate of above 110 in any game and made just one score of beyond 25.

But he is confident he will be better prepared this time around after putting significant work into the role with batting coach Jeff Vaughan.

"We just went through being able to start your innings at 100 per cent," McDermott said.

"Being able to strike boundaries and strike at a decent strike right from ball one was key for success and I wasn't able to do that at all.

"I'm someone who needs a few balls to get going. Something I'm working on is being able to hit a boundary early on and get myself going."

McDermott initially made the call to move down the order for the Hurricanes last summer, with Australia desperate to find finishers ahead of the T20 World Cup.

However the move backfired and left him short on runs, before returning to the top of the order where he powered his way to a 400-run season this summer.

But while Aaron Finch, Matt Wade and potentially Josh Phillipe will occupy the top three spots for Australia in the five T20s, McDermott can now see a clearer path forward around No.6.

"Being able to score boundaries at the start was one of the things I took out of that (first stint) and have been working on," McDermott said.

"We (he and Vaughan) talked a lot about looking for four first and then your last option is hitting a one.

"I probably got into a little bit of mindset early on in my innings that I was just looking for one or two and then missing out on boundary options early.

"That's about as simple as it is."

Australian Associated Press