Recalled Test batsman Phil Hughes may have been rattled by the rollercoaster ride which led to him boarding a plane for South Africa, but he says if he gets another opportunity, he won’t want to give selectors any reason to leave him behind once again.

Hughes flew out of Australia on Friday after earning an 11th hour call-up when Shaun Marsh was ruled out with a calf injury.

It was a welcome reprieve for Hughes, who scored two centuries and 415 runs at 69 in a stunning debut series against South Africa in 2009 but has been in and out of the Test team ever since.

Some might view it as a final chance for the gifted but erratic 25-year-old.

Hughes doesn’t – but he also doesn’t want to let this one slip through his fingers as like last recall, which lasted nine Tests and was cut short two Tests into last year’s Ashes series in England.

The left-hander started with an unbeaten 81 at Trent Bridge, but followed it with scores of 0, 1 and 1 to be out in the cold after the second Test.

“I definitely have (taken some blows in my career),” Hughes said before flying out on Friday.

“The last five years have been a lot of ups and downs in my career. (But) they’re the challenges of playing sport.”

Hughes, whose Sheffield Shield form this summer has translated into three centuries and 549 runs at 61, said he was a better batsman now compared to any of his previous attempts at Test cricket but said he wasn’t prepared to look back too much on previous failures – preferring to focus on the next chapter.

“It’s not about how you get knocked down, it’s how you keep bouncing back up,” Hughes said.

“All I can do is control what I can control.

“Perform in the nets and out in the middle and continue to look to improve.

“If opportunities come down the line then hopefully I can take them better than I did last time.”

Australia open their tour on February five with a four-day tour match against an invitational XI at Potchefstroom, but Hughes hasn’t yet learned whether he will play or not.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann will be looking to use the tour match to single out the replacement for dumped middle-order batsman George Bailey – with the uncapped Alex Doolan favoured ahead of Hughes and Moises Henriques.

“I’m not actually in the team as yet,” Hughes said.

“(But) you never know with opportunities. I never think about (it being) make or break.”