Glenn Maxwell insists he's taken a giant step forward in his career with his maiden first-class double-century.
Maxwell was finally dismissed for 278 against NSW on Saturday, ending a marathon knock that is sure to leave an impression on Australian Test selectors.
The 29-year-old struck 40 boundaries and looked supreme all around the wicket. He punished anything too full or short from a NSW attack including former Test players Doug Bollinger, Trent Copeland, Stephen O'Keefe and Moises Henriques.
Told by selectors to go back to the Sheffield Shield and plunder centuries after being omitted from the Ashes side for the series opener at the Gabba, the 468 minutes he spent at the crease was equally impressive as the aggressive all-rounder tries to tighten his game for Test cricket.
"Today was a giant step forward for me in this format," Maxwell said after stumps on Friday night.
"I trusted changes I've made in the pre-season and I think I've slowly made progress throughout the year.
"Last week against Tassie, I started to show that a tightened defence was starting to work for me and, starting my innings today, that was my focus."
One criticism of Maxwell in the past has been his patience and defence.
He showed signs of breaking that stereotype with a four-hour Test century earlier this year against India, while scores of 60 and 45 not out against South Australia and Tasmania in recent weeks have also come off more than 100 balls.
His only unconventional stroke came after he passed 250, when he reverse swept Stephen O'Keefe for four before the spinner finally beat his outside edge to bowl him overs later.
"The longer I stay at the crease, there are more loose balls I can go after," Maxwell said.
"I was in a really good (on Friday) and I didn't miss the middle too much.
"It was just a really comfortable time out in the middle for me. I was almost in that state of trance where batters get to that stage where they can almost be on auto-pilot."
Maxwell's double-century came at the end of a roller-coaster week, after he was dropped and then later called up as a reserve for the First Test as Shaun Marsh and David Warner battled injuries.
And while he admitted he was disappointed to be left out originally, he said there were a number of times over the past four days he thought he was about to play his first home Test.
"I was hearing some whispers around the group - and you just never know," he said.
"I tried not to buy into it too much but you've just got to prepare as if you're a chance to play.
"But as it turned out, the boys got through their fitness test which was great."
