As Kane Richardson prepared to close the Bulls innings against a flamboyant Marcus Labuschagne and hard-hitter Ben Cutting, his thoughts drifted towards his preparedness for the upcoming home season. He was busy wondering how his performance at the Gabba would help his preparedness. 

This shows how competitive the Aussie players are and with the World Cup at home clearly in the sight, the players seem to be even more competitive. He saw the assignment at hand against two reputed batsmen as the perfect way to rate his preparedness. Talking of his performance at Gabba, Richardson conceded only 38 runs with a miserly economy of 3.8. 

"Bowling to Ben Cutting, and when Marnus (Labuschagne) was on a hundred at the death, that's perfect practice. That's what I thought at the time. We've got the second T20 there (at the Gabba), so it was useful to get back into that groove of bowling death and even at the start (of the innings). It's all pretty similar kind of stuff - it's just four overs (in T20 cricket) instead of 10," cricket.com.au quoted Richardson.

We are well aware of the quality Australia poses in the pace department and Richardson claims that it enhances the quality of training sessions. The competition is evident as seasoned speedsters like Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake have been left out of the team. 

"The training with Australia is so much more intense than state cricket and Big Bash cricket. I'm in the squad, but there are some pretty good quicks in there, as usual with the Australian team,” the 28-year-old said.

"So it would just be nice to play some games and keep trying to get better. Justin (Langer, men's team coach) has been pretty adamant about blokes playing different roles, so if there's a role for me to play then hopefully I can do that."

Both the upcoming T20 series will be very interesting as Pakistan, the number side in the World, will be vying to get back into their groove with youngsters on board while Sri Lanka would love to build on the confidence they have developed after whitewashing Pakistan at home.