Steve Smith said he believes it was a "wise decision" for him to resist the appeal of playing for England, and represent his homeland Australia.
Smith, whose mother hails from Kent, is the number one ranked Test batsman in the world, but Australia might not have been the country he was smashing runs for, had England got their way when the New South Welshman was playing with Surrey in 2007.
Now 26, Smith said he was comfortable with his decision to play for Australia, knowing he had the option to join their archrival.
"I ended up playing a little bit of cricket at Surrey, and I think they might have been trying to get me along [to play for England], but I think I made a wise decision to play back home," Smith said after making 111 in a tour match against Kent.
Kent was another of Smith's clubs when the teenager enjoyed stints in England.
"My mum's from Kent actually, I played a little bit of club cricket at Sevenoaks Vine back in '07, which was really enjoyable, and I think it helped my game in the long run as well," he added.
"I was lucky enough to play a bit of second-team cricket for Kent when I was over here, and that certainly helped my development out as well."
Internationally, Smith's rise to prominence began at the 2013 Ashes - which England won 3-0 - as he posted an unbeaten 138 at The Oval for his maiden Test century.
"I think I know my game a lot better than what I did then," said Smith, comparing the lead-up in 2013 to this year.
"I was fresh back in the side then, and I've certainly got a lot more confidence in my game now.
"Everything feels really good at the moment, so hopefully I can continue absorbing the pressure, keep the bowlers coming back and getting them to bowl in areas where I want them to bowl."
On his unbeaten knock in the tour match, Smith said he was happy to get some valuable match practice in different surrounds.
"The most important thing was to spend some time in the middle, and try and get used to the English conditions - obviously a little bit different to the West Indies where we've just been, and to back home.
"It was nice to spend some time in the middle, and get a hundred at the same time."
Smith also shook off Graeme Swann's public criticism of his batting technique, labelling it as "banter" and part of a typical pre-Ashes build-up.
The tour match heads to day three on Saturday, before the first Test starts July 8 in Cardiff.