Six months ago, Shaun Marsh sensed he may never don the baggy green again.
Now, Marsh has just delivered arguably the most important innings of his career to put Australia in the box seat for a 2-0 lead in the Ashes.
Steve Smith's side have plenty of work to do if they're to defeat England in the day-night Test but Marsh's unbeaten knock of 126 has clearly given them the upper hand.
England will resume at 1-29 on day three at Adelaide Oval, still trailing by 413 runs.
Marsh was axed after this year's Test tour of India and denied a Cricket Australia contract - it was hard not to feel like his time was finally up.
"(Chairman of selectors) Trevor Hohns rang me and said the door wasn't shut but six months ago I wasn't sure whether I'd be back here," Marsh told reporters.
"I always dreamed of getting back in and sort of went away, just went to England and had some really good fun (playing domestic cricket) over there.
"I'm really happy I've got this last chance and happy with the way it's going."
The much-maligned veteran's eighth Test recall was met with widespread disbelief and doubt but he's already repaid Hohns' faith.
Marsh scored 51 and shared a match-changing partnership with Steve Smith during the first Test then backed it up with what could be a man-of-the-match performance in Adelaide.
"I hadn't really thought about all the external noise with my selection in the team," he said.
"I've just tried to come in and just be nice and relaxed.
"I've felt really good within my game over the last three or four months.
"I was disappointed with my shot in Brisbane but I felt nice and comfortable up there, nice and relaxed, so it was nice to continue on with a start this game."
England coach Trevor Bayliss was full of praise for Marsh, suggesting his dig should be the template for the visiting batsmen to follow as they attempt to fight back on Monday.
"Shaun's been a quality player for a lot of years. He's showed it again today," former NSW coach Bayliss said.
"Shaun showed it's not impossible to score runs out there ... it's up to one or two of our guys to make a big score."
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