Blake Dean broke Andy Flower's batting record, but the ACT Comets player isn't expecting to become the No.1 batsman in the world.
The Weston Creek recruit has just returned from a winter in Wales where he scored 1423 runs at an average of 101.64, blitzing the mark Flower set 15 years ago in 1999.
Dean was excited about playing for the Comets against international sides Afghanistan and Ireland, who are playing a series of games at Manuka Oval to prepare for next year's Cricket World Cup.
The 27-year-old hopes to take his form from playing for Bangor in the North Wales Cricket League, where Flower spent a season as playing coach, to Canberra with him.
"I think I broke Andy Flower's record on the averages and I broke the league record, that's just a good thing to boost my confidence coming back into the Australian season," Dean said.
"It was good to hear and good to see that a player of that calibre had played there, and obviously he did well.
"He tells the story about how it helped his career, so that was a bit of a selling point for me going over as well.
"I don't think I'm anywhere near that calibre [of Flower], it was just a nice feeling knowing that someone of that calibre had done something in that same competition. It just boosts your confidence."
Flower went on to be crowned the world's No.1 Test batsman in 2001 and was later quoted as saying "Bangor made me".
While Dean's brother Jono has extended his Big Bash League contract with the Adelaide Strikers, Dean isn't confident about getting another shot in the domestic Twenty20 competition.
He played one game for the Sydney Thunder last summer, scoring three runs and taking 1-29 off two overs.
His time surrounded by professional players showed him the importance of the mental side of the game.
Dean will get his first taste of international cricket against Afghanistan on Friday, and he is relishing the opportunity of again testing himself against professional cricketers.
"It still gives me the drive to want to play [BBL], but obviously not being successful at that level makes you think, 'I'm not good enough or I haven't worked hard enough', so it makes you work harder and fix the gaps in your game, which there obviously is because I wasn't successful last year at all," Dean said.
"The mental side of the game comes out a lot more when you play that level.
"Watching players who had learnt to deal with that situation, who had dealt with the pressure of that situation to perform, like [Mike] Hussey ... with the crowds and everything, learning to deal with that is something players from Canberra aren't used to, I wasn't used to."