Alex Ross' year continues to go from strength to strength, as the batsman gets one step closer to Australian selection after been named in the Australia A squad.
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Ross was on holiday in Thailand with Jake Lehmann – son of Australian coach Darren – when they both received the good news via text message.
The holiday was a brief break ahead of what will be a "pretty hectic six months" for the 24-year-old Canberra product, but he's not getting ahead of himself.
After being named the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year in January, Ross attracted plenty of praise for his outstanding Big Bash campaign, and was part of the South Australia side that came from nowhere to finish on top of the Sheffield Shield ladder before ultimately losing to Victoria.
Currently in his "off-season", he's preparing for the season ahead by playing with Darwin club side Southern Districts in between fishing trips.
Before the Australia A selection, Ross' name had been bandied about for the World Twenty20 selection, but he's not getting ahead of himself.
"The whole thing about being a sportsman is you've got to focus on what you're doing game by game, so the ultimate goal is to play for Australia, but it's a goal in the distance at the moment," Ross said.
"But perform in these sorts of games and I'm sure your name gets put up there with the likes of some very good players."
Australia A will play South Africa A in two four-day Tests in Brisbane and Townsville in early August.
They will then be joined by Cricket Australia's National Performance Squad and a yet to be confirmed squad, but likely another international one, in a quadrangular 50-over series in Townsville and Mackay.
While there will be no Twenty20 games, Ross – dubbed the "sweepologist" by Damien Fleming during the last BBL – isn't fazed he won't have the chance to play the shorter format in green and gold.
"I'm not too concerned. I really enjoyed playing one-day cricket. I've played the past four years and I've really enjoyed playing them and, with my first full year of shield cricket under my belt, I've been doing both those formats.
"In this day and age, it's hard to just look at one format. I think, once the guys have retired [from international cricket], they can start to do that in terms of Twenty20 cricket, but the goal for us young guys is to play as much of the game as we can in all formats everywhere, so the more I can do of that the better."
Ross will play T20 again before he starts a new three-year BBL contract with the Brisbane Heat, after being picked up to play in the Caribbean Premier League, dubbed " the biggest party in sports".
He'll suit up for Jamaica alongside the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Gayle and Dale Steyn for the six-week competition that starts in July.
"It'll be awesome fun, but it will be awesome just to soak it up and pick their brain as well. There's a lot of cricket been played by those guys, so anything you can pick up there and bring back, I'm sure it can only help."
Australia A squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Cameron Boyce, Pat Cummins, Travis Dean, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Sam Heazlett, Moises Henriques, Jake Lehmann, Chris Lynn, Joe Mennie, Kurtis Patterson, Joel Paris, Matt Renshaw, Kane Richardson, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Chris Tremain, Dan Worrall, Sam Whiteman.
