It worked. In his first match back after missing out for the Melbourne Renegades, Nevill hit 235 not out for NSW against Tasmania, the highest shield score by a wicketkeeper. By the end of the first-class season, he had struck 764 runs at an average of 76.4. He was announced on Tuesday as Brad Haddin's back-up on the forthcoming tours of the West Indies and England.

"I was able to do a lot of preparation to make sure I started the back half of the shield season well," the 29-year-old said of his time on the BBL sidelines. "I did a lot of technique sessions at the MCG on a bowling machine with a four-day focus. I was able to get a lot of physical work done and also work hard on my game to make sure I was ready for shield cricket when it came back around."

The irony of Nevill's blessing in disguise was that his shield performances put him ahead of 12-Test veteran Matthew Wade, the wicketkeeper-batsman who took Nevill's place behind the stumps at the Renegades. And, if you go back further, there was another blessing in disguise for Nevill involving Wade – Nevill had left Victoria to join the Blues when Wade had arrived in Victoria from Tasmania because he feared he would not get a guernsey ahead of Tim Paine.

The musical chairs ended with Nevill working closely with Haddin. When the incumbent Test wicketkeeper came back to the Blues, so highly considered was Nevill, he was kept in the state side purely as a batsman. His progress was confirmed when he was picked as Haddin's understudy for the West Indies tour in 2012. However, the upcoming Frank Worrell Trophy and Ashes tours will be his first for the national team since then.

"I was very happy with the way I was able to stay focused throughout the season, just focusing on the next game and doing well for NSW. Once the season was completed it was hard not to wonder what was going to come next, whether it was going to be an Australia A tour or an Australian tour. I'm very pleased to have been selected," he said.

Nevill thanked Haddin for his input. "Brad's had a massive impact on my career. He's always so generous with his time. He's helped me a lot. He's got a great eye for wicketkeeping and understands the technical aspects of wicketkeeping. He's certainly helped me become a better player and helped me become a better wicketkeeper. It's just little things. It's just talking to him about scenarios in a game or what he mentally is thinking, what are his keys when he's wicketkeeping. Just small things end up adding up to quite a lot.

"Being in the West Indies in 2012, I learnt a heap. You see some of the best players in the world, the way they go about their preparation for games, how hard they train, things like that, it makes you realise you need to take your game to another level and how you can go about doing that."