England Cricket / Ralph Ellis / 28 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Australia's 20-year-old opening batsman has benefited from having to work extra hard to oust the great generation from the first eleven, says Ralph Ellis. And now, while England's stars limp home from the IPL with their paychecks, the youngster is learning about English wickets by hitting centuries for Middlesex...

There's an obsession in sport with trying to look into the future. Teams often get picked - especially towards the end of a season - with the good older guy left out to make room for the promising youngster. Think of Steve McLaren dumping David Beckham from his squad, or picking Scott Carson ahead of David James when it got to the crucial qualifier. We all know what happened next.

It's only four months ago that the Australians were being charged with failing to make room for the next generation in their cricket team. Beaten by South Africa, they were asking where the young hopefuls to take the side forward would come from. Suddenly the stability which had seen more or less the same dominant eleven rule the world for a decade was being looked on as a weakness rather than a strength.

A few months on and a different truth is evolving. New younger players are forcing their way through, and they are getting into the side because they've had to work twice as hard to dislodge the great generation rather than because their path has been made artificially easy.

Among the new discoveries is 20-year-old opener Phil Hughes. And if his progress wasn't quick enough already with an Ashes series approaching, then Middlesex are helping it on a bit further by giving him the chance to experience English conditions in County Cricket at the start of this season.

While Andrew Flintoff has limped home from collecting his cash in the Indian Premier League, Hughes turned down the chance to make his own small fortune in South Africa to come to Lord's. And he's already smashed 183 in his first Championship match against Glamorgan and then picked up another 74 against the same opponents in a Friends Provident Trophy match.

He may be only small - 5ft 7ins - but already looks as if he could be a giant of a batsman for the Aussies this summer and with all the other problems facing England's cricket team it doesn't bode well.

He's also fearless. "In the region I grew up we played mostly on concrete or synthetic wickets - there was only one turf wicket in the whole area and if you were lucky you would get to play three or four games per season on it," he tells Mike Dickson in this morning's Daily Mail, suggesting extra bounce would never be a problem. "I started playing grade cricket around 12 and it was great for me to play against full-grown men trying to knock your head off."

Hughes' emergence is another reason why Australia at [1.77] to win the Ashes series looks a very sound investment. The only real issue is the score, and the way things have gone with England since the Kevin Pietersen debacle at the turn of the year it's tempting to go for the 5-0 at anywhere between the current price of [10.0] to back and [15.0] to lay. I'd avoid that only because it's bound to rain for at least one match! Backing both 3-0 to the Aussies and 4-0 at [8.2] and [12.5] respectively looks the best value.

It might feel unpatriotic to back the Aussies, but Middlesex have set the example by helping Hughes settle in so why not follow and make some money from it!

Five things you might not know about Phil Hughes

1. Born in Macksville, a small town in New South Wales, his dad Greg farmed bananas

2. He was also a talented rugby league player and played in the same team as Australian international Greg Inglis

3. Age 12 he scored 159 not out in a parents v students final - then at 19 he became the youngest to hit a century in a Sheffield Shield final

4. His nickname is "Boofa", Australian slang for a guy trying too hard to impress the girls

5. When he made his debut for Australia in South Africa, his home town pub in Macksville offered free drinks for the duration of his innings. He was out fourth ball!