Australia's Test squad had barely left the country, but former opener Matthew Renshaw made an immediate statement of intent with a century for Queensland on day one of their Sheffield Shield match against Victoria in Melbourne.
Renshaw on Friday dominated a strong Bushrangers bowling attack, scoring 170 - his fifth first-class century.
The left-hander's majestic 218-ball innings helped the Shield leaders to reach 4-333 at stumps, on a day's play which contrasted markedly with a host of recent low scores in state cricket.
Renshaw hit Victoria's bowlers all over the MCG in a knock that included four sixes, before he was eventually caught at slip off the bowling of Fawad Ahmed.
"I have been working on quite a few things over the past month-and-a-half," said Renshaw. "To have them all come together this week has been really exciting.
"The Twenty20 cricket really helped me work on keeping my head as still as possible.
"The guys that do well there keep their head still, and I tried to apply that with red-ball cricket, and it really worked for me today."
Renshaw endured a modest first part of the season, but shone last weekend as Queensland comfortably defeated Tasmania as the Shield resumed for the second half of the season.
The 21-year-old impressed by top-scoring with 56 against the Tigers, and added 32 in the second innings on a challenging Gabba wicket.
Despite his new-found form, Renshaw - who played 10 Tests for Australia before being dropped early last summer - would not be drawn on a possible national recall.
"It is just about trying to enjoy my cricket and win games for Queensland," he said.
"We are a young group and a lot of us haven't been involved in a Shield final or victory, so that is something we are really striving for."
Queensland edged NSW out of top spot last weekend, and another win would move them closer to a berth in the Shield final with three more rounds remaining.
Second-last Victoria, struggling to keep their Shield title defence alive, continued to suffer after Renshaw's dismissal with Sam Heazlett (63no) and Jack Wildermuth (42no) putting on a quickfire 75-run stand as the shadows lengthened.
