Hughes rests up before England assault

Phillip Hughes will use some downtime after his heroics in South Africa to freshen up for his first Ashes experience. Hughes, who scored 415 runs at 69.16 in his opening three Tests, was not picked in the limited-overs squads and arrived back in Sydney on Wednesday.

Hughes, 20, has a six-week contract with the English county Middlesex that he will use to prepare for Australia's defence of the Ashes. "I'm not disappointed about the one-day side, I wasn't thinking about it to tell you the truth," Hughes told the Daily Telegraph.

"I just wanted to get home and get fresh before heading back to England to prepare for the Ashes. I'd love to play one-day cricket one day for Australia, but I'm only 20 and I've got time on my side."

Hughes said his time in South Africa was "an experience I'll never forget" and he was pleased to have come through his exchanges with the home fast bowlers. "I remember watching the likes of Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini on television and thinking what a great attack they were," he said.

"But I spoke with Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich about how they'd try and come at me so we sat down and had a few plans. I've gained a lot of confidence from that, and now I'll worry about Middlesex and then the Ashes."