As far as the race for Australia Test selection goes, Nic Maddinson has come from a long way back.

In fact, the 27-year-old barely even realised he was in the running until this week when he was picked to play for Australia A in a tour match against Pakistan.

“I actually didn’t even know there was an Australia A game coming up,” Maddinson told SEN’s Whateley.

“(I) discreetly asked (national selector) Trevor Hohns on the phone where I was playing and what day it started, but it’s nice to be selected.”

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Maddinson’s first stint in the Test side didn’t go so well. Source: Getty Images

The left-hander’s Australia A call-up marks him as a bona fide contender to wear the baggy green when Australia plays the first Test on November 21.

Only Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade can consider themselves batting locks for that match. David Warner probably is one, too.

That leaves two batting spots up for grabs, which up to nine contenders will battle for via domestic cricket and the Australia A tour match.

Among those contenders are Travis Head, Marcus Harris, Will Pucovski and Usman Khawaja. Maddinson is one of those contenders, too, as this season’s topscorer in the Sheffield Shield (367 runs at 91.75).

He may have had no idea about the upcoming Australia A fixture, and he hasn’t played for Australia since December 2016, but Maddinson said he still kept one eye on a Test recall.

“It’s hard sometimes to not think a little bit further ahead. And I think people probably lie when they say they don’t think about that kind of stuff but I definitely have,” Maddinson told the program.

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“Not just in the past weeks but even the past six months or even before that. I think when you’re doing well you always have an eye on what could be in the future and where you want to end up as a goal.”

Since being axed by New South Wales and picked up by Victoria at the start of the 2018-19 season, three-Test player Maddinson has been batting well. Very well, actually.

In eight matches over two seasons, Maddinson has made 930 runs at 84.55 which includes four hundreds and a career-best 224, which he made last month against South Australia.

Most recently, he scored a quickfire 69 as part of a sinking Victoria ship at Bellerive Oval. Maddinson scored more than half of his side’s 127 runs, while the next highest scorer — Harris — made 13.

It’s therefore no surprise to see Maddinson in the Test mix once more.

The last time Maddinson cracked into Australia’s XI he batted in the middle-order amid a five-match losing streak. He failed to seize the opportunity, making a duck on his Test debut before adding low scores of 1, 4 and 22.

“It was a challenging time and I probably learnt a lot from the experience,” Maddinson said of being whisked into the Test side.

“When I think about it now, compared to what I know about cricket and my own batting at the moment, I actually don’t think I had much of an idea of what I was doing or much direction on how I wanted to play.

Maddinson scored a quickfire 69 as part of a sinking Victoria ship at Bellerive Oval. Source: AAP

“I probably wasn’t really confident with my own game at that level and not even at state cricket at that time I don’t think.

“At the time I probably didn’t reflect on it too much but in the last couple of years you get a bit of time to think about it. I think I probably wasn’t ready at that opportunity.”

Should selectors look favourably upon Maddinson once more, the opener says he’s far better placed to deal with the challenge.

When asked if he would be ready to play Test cricket again, he said: “I think so ... I think in terms of the style of play and my confidence levels, I think I would be but it’s hard to know until you’re out in the middle and obviously it is a step up again and a whole different challenge once you’re up there.”

While many players owe their resurgences to a new coach or mentor, Maddinson says his comeback has largely been a journey of self-discovery.

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“I like the journey I guess of discovering something for myself and making mistakes along the way and kind of working out what’s the best way to go,” he said.

“I think since that experience of playing Test cricket and being back into a state set-up, I was dropped within two matches after playing my last Test. There were a lot of challenges along the way and personally I really like that journey of finding out what works for you and finding ways to go about it.

“I think everyone in cricket is going to be different. Just because you seek a mentor, they might be able to give you something that works for them but it doesn’t mean it directly applies to your regardless of how good a player they are.”

The three-day, day-night tour match between Australia A and Pakistan starts on November 11 at Perth Stadium. The match is being billed as a batting shootout between Australia’s Test hopefuls before the squad for the first match is named.