Mark Murphy is hopeful playing cricket in England will take his game to a new level back home in the Warrnambool and District association.
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The Brierly-Christ Church captain-coach has returned from a season with Hunslet Nelson in the Bradford Cricket League.
He finished as the club’s top run-maker with close to 400 runs to his name in his debut season.
The 26-year-old said he believed the time abroad had made him a better cricketer.
"Over in England the ball sort of moves around a fair bit," he said.
"And when I got back I reckon I faced half-a-dozen balls and realised how easier it was to play on an Australian wicket with the Kookaburra ball as opposed to a green-top with a duke.
"And it just felt a lot more comfortable and I obviously had to tweak my game a little overseas and learnt a bit off that."
Since being back on Australian soil the talented batsman’s performances have backed up his claim.
Murphy hit the ground running to start the season in a one-off game with Greenvale’s second division team in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition.
He blasted 118 before backing it up with a superb innings of 84 in his first match of the season with Brierly.
Murphy said this was where he realised how much his time in England had improved his game.
"Over there the wickets probably aren't as quick and you really had to wait for it and I think it just helped me with my technique,” he said.
"I like to go after it a bit but it did make me just wait for it and all those technically things I probably did wrong for a few years.”
Murphy said regardless of the season he has with the Bulls, he was glad he finally bit the bullet and played overseas after years of contemplating it.
"The club in general was great and the people you met, it was the best experience you could imagine," he said.
"I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has thought about it.”
The skipper did admit that he had faced some challenges since being back home in Warrnambool.
"It is a bit of a funny one," he said.
"You get back and you are trying to see where everyone is up to and worrying about your personal life trying to get things organised and starting a new line or work and things like that.
"So between that and coaching it's been hard to concentrate on what you are doing as an individual.”
