PHIL Jaques has declared his ambition to open batting for Australia in both Test and one-day cricket by next summer.Having established himself at the top of the order in the five-day game following last year`s retirement of Justin Langer, Jaques has now set his sights on taking over from the recently-retired Adam Gilchrist as Matthew Hayden`s opening partner in the both short and long formats within eight months.
“Absolutely, I`d love to play one-day cricket for Australia,” said Jaques, who will play his ninth Test when Australia open their three-match Test series against the West Indies at Sabina Park from Thursday.
“That`s one goal I really want for this year is to break into the one-day side.
“With Gilly going, there`s going to be a few more opportunities and hopefully I can be the one that puts my hand up and gets an opportunity at that level.
“I love playing one-day cricket, so hopefully the opportunity will come this summer.”
Jaques first made his mark internationally in the one-day side when he scored 94 on debut against South Africa at the Telstra Dome in January 2006. It was the highest ODI score by an Australian on debut.
But he was controversially dropped for the next game as Simon Katich returned from injury with the New South Wales opener since struggling to gain a foothold in the limited overs team, scoring a total of 31 runs in his last five ODI games played sporadically over a 13-month period in 2006-07.
Jaques was not included in the 14-member squad for the five-game one-day series which follows Australia`s Test campaign against the West Indies.
Australia will instead likely experiment with several players at the top of the order alongside Hayden - including James Hopes, Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke.
Jaques, meanwhile, is likely to be consumed by Test cricket for at least the next six months with the 29-year-old knowing his best chance of forcing his way into the one-day team will be by continuing to pile on runs in the longer game.
“It`s batting, it`s cricket, and it`s generally all I`m playing at the moment,” Jaques said.
“It`s hard to play domestically, because there`s no time for it, but any opportunity I can get to try and push my cause in that regard, I`ll do it.”
Hayden achieved a similar feat two years ago, earning a recall to the one-day team due to the sheer weight of his Test numbers.
He went on to be named international one-day player of the year in 2007 after being a key figure in Australia`s World Cup triumph.
Jaques` first challenge now though will be replicating his promising home form on tour in the Windies.
“Every single game is part of establishing yourself as a player and establishing yourself in the team, I don`t think anybody is entirely established,” Jaques said.
“There are so many good players in Australia, you have to perform for your whole career, so I`ll just be trying to build on what I did last summer, and just keep trying to get better as a player and contribute more to the team.”
Every match of Australia`s tour of the Caribbean will be screened LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on Fox Sports.
AAP
