Despite being colour blind and short sighted, he maintained a first-class average of nearly 50, yet he did not play for the Australia national cricket team until the age of 30, when he was selected for a single Test match in 2008. He was recalled to the Australia national team for the 2013 Ashes series, aged 35, and over the following two years played a further 24 Tests opening the batting for Australia before retiring after the 2015 Ashes series.