Ashes 2015: Brad Haddin keen to hold up urn in England for the first time

WHEN Brad Haddin quit Australia’s tour of the West Indies in 2012 to be with his ill daughter Mia, he wasn’t fussed about ever playing Test cricket again.

1st Test - Australia v West Indies: Day 2

WHEN Brad Haddin quit Australia’s tour of the West Indies in 2012 to be with his ill daughter Mia, he wasn’t fussed about ever playing Test cricket again.

Mia is now cancer-free and a happy four-year-old going to pre-school.

And daddy is about to head on an Ashes tour for the fourth time, hopefully with a different result to 2005, 2009 and 2013.

The 37-year-old Haddin has retired from one-day international cricket following Australia’s win in the World Cup final in March and the NSW gloveman’s Test future is a mystery.

Haddin says he hasn’t thought about big-time cricket beyond the July/August Ashes series.

But he has pondered what it would be like to hold up a replica of the famous urn.

Australia leads its two-match Test series against West Indies one-nil. The second Test starts in Kingston, Jamaica on Thursday.

The ground holds special significance for Haddin who made his Test debut there in 2008.

However like everyone else in Australia’s squad, Haddin’s thoughts are already drifting towards the first Ashes Test starting in Cardiff in July 8.

Haddin says his own personal story of defeat on three Ashes tours makes this upcoming series even more special.

“The theatre and everything behind an Ashes campaign and the pressures that I feel are totally different,” Haddin said.

“You get off on it a bit, an Ashes campaign. They are so much different (to other series).

“I’ve never had the privilege of holding the urn up over there.

“That would be a dream for not only me but this group. We’ve come a long way as a team over the last 12 to 18 months.

“One way you can see that is the way we’re starting to field.

“You can see everyone is wanting to play for each other.

“I’d love to hold the urn up over there.”

Haddin says he was prepared to walk away from the game in 2012.

“We had different things in our lives that we had to worry about,” Haddin said.

“When I left the game, it wasn’t about cricket.

“With my family circumstances I wasn’t 100 per cent that (a return) was going to happen and I was comfortable with that.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment of it, even the good days and the bad days.

“I wasn’t really thinking about cricket then. It was about making sure everything was right at home.

“Once I was able to get back to play, I never doubted I could get back to this level.

“I know there’s speculation with the age I am.

“I haven’t really sat down and had a really good think about it.”

Haddin says the Ashes series is a massive event and no time for thoughts of retirement.

“The hype and the theatre around that whole campaign, I wouldn’t do myself justice or my teammates justice if I was thinking about anything else,” he said.

“A series like that is as big as you get.”

Haddin prides himself on the way he prepares technically and physically for matches.

“I wasn’t a massive fan of the golf ball on the wall until the last few years working with Ian Healy,” Haddin said.

“I did a bit of that before the Test match (last week in Dominica).”

While Test great Healy became known for his misshapen fingers, Haddin says his are going okay.

“My fingers, there’s a few titanium bits holding it together,” he said.

Originally published as Ashes 2015: Brad Haddin keen to hold up urn in England for the first time