Shaun Marsh says it was great to cast aside tentativeness and enjoy some fun time in the middle, following his 79-run knock for Western Australia against Queensland in their Sheffield Shield clash at the Gabba.
Following a dreadful four Test summer that yielded just 17 runs for the No.3, with a longest stay at the crease of 19 balls, there was a weight of expectation when he strode out to face the red ball once again.
The first ball whizzed past his outside edge by the barest of margins. There was a confident shout for LBW soon after, and further down the track he was dropped on 34. But after the initial period there were plenty of reminders of his class.
He was ruthless on anything overpitched, driving to the straight down the ground again and again, scoring 40 of his first 50 in boundaries.
Post-innings Marsh was just relieved to finally find some time and fluency at the crease.
"I was pretty nervous leading up to the game. I guess getting out there and getting through the first 20 balls, which I haven't been able to do, was good. I knew if I could do that I could get myself away, and it was good to contribute to the team," he said.
"I was a bit tentative, but I thought once I get through this I'm away here. I was nicking (the close ones) during the Test series."
"It was just good to get out there and have a lot of fun and it was nice to spend a bit of time in the middle."
"I just went out there with a clear mind and just tried to be positive. I thought I was a bit tentative through the Test series and things were building up inside me. I just went out there with a clear head."
"I was pretty nervous, but if the ball was in my area to hit, I was going to attack it pretty hard, and I was lucky enough to get a few away early, settle the nerves and get myself going, which was great."
With impending selections for the Caribbean tour, Marsh isn't counting on a plane ticket and says that Test selection will remain far from his mind until he starts piling up the runs and contributing to Western Australia victories.
"I haven't thought about (playing for Australia) at all. I'm just looking forward to playing for WA now," he said.
"I need some big hundreds to push my case, but it's a long way away in my mind, and I'm just looking forward to trying to help the boys win Sheffield Shield games and build towards a Shield final."