Ferguson heralds new era

Callum Ferguson is brimming with enthusiasm for a new era in Australian cricket. His excitement is little wonder, since the team's first series under Michael Clarke's captaincy - three one-day matches in Bangladesh - has seen Ferguson squeeze his way back into the Australia limited-overs team at the expense of Cameron White. He replaced White for the second ODI, but did not get a chance to bat since Australia won by nine wickets.

"Every time the Australia captain has changed, it's almost had a bit of a change of era feel about it," Ferguson said. "There's no doubt Michael and Shane [Watson] will be looking to make a mark and take us in a new direction.

"Obviously it was a big disappointment being knocked out in the World Cup quarter-final and losing the Ashes earlier in the year. So we're extremely keen to rectify things and turn things around, and the last two games have been a fantastic start to their leadership careers." Australia have already wrapped up the series against Bangladesh with two easy wins, and will play the final one-dayer on Wednesday.

A seemingly permanent fixture in the side in 2009, before a knee injury kept him out of cricket for a year, Ferguson is now hoping for an innings of substance in Wednesday's match to shore up his spot for Australia's next overseas tour to Sri Lanka in August. A happy face around the squad, Ferguson has been the model reserve, offering nary a grumble while waiting for his next chance.

"Obviously I spent a long time away from the group with the knee injury, so I'm really glad to be a part of it again and really looking forward to the next opportunity I get," he said. "Whether that be tomorrow [Wednesday] - it might not be, it might be further down the track - but just to be running around with the boys again is fantastic."

Following this series, Ferguson and Tim Paine will play for Pune Warriors in the IPL. His simple goal with the Australia team can be applied just as neatly to the Twenty20 sphere.

"Contributing to wins is probably the biggest thing for me at the minute, just making sure I'm playing my role for the team and giving the guys in behind me a chance as well; not leaving it to the next guy. Just making sure that I'm doing absolutely everything I can to get a win on the board."