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Brad Haddin still itching for Ashes success

He may be in the final part of his Test career but Brad Haddin says the lure of a successful Ashes campaign in England is driving him on.

The veteran wicketkeeper has been a member of three Ashes touring squads but has yet to taste victory on English soil.

Haddin was a back-up to Adam Gilchrist for the 2005 tour and also lost to the old enemy in 2009 and 2013.

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The 37-year-old says it’s one part of his career which he desperately wants to rectify.

“No matter where you’re ranked – 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.

“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.”

Haddin’s shot at a fourth overseas Ashes campaign is viewed as a bonus by the gloveman.

Three years ago Haddin quit Australia’s tour of the Caribbean after his daughter Mia was diagnosed with neuroblastoma – a rare form of cancer.

That allowed Victoria’s Matthew Wade to make his Test debut against the West Indies and prompted speculation Haddin’s international career was over.

Haddin spent the next eight months away from cricket and admits he would have been fine if he never played again.

AAP

“Once I got back to playing cricket, I never doubted I’d get back to this level.” Photo: AAP

Instead by the 2013 Ashes tour Haddin was back in the Test team.

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

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

“My only doubt was whether I was able to get back to play the game.

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

“I was happy my career was over then because we had different things in our lives that we had to worry about.

“Once I got back to playing cricket, I never doubted I’d get back to this level.”

Haddin says he has no concrete plans about what his future holds following the Ashes series, saying that’s a decision he’ll make at the end of the campaign.

“I know there’s speculation with the age I am,” he said.

“We’ve got a massive campaign coming up after this with the Ashes.

“You cant have any clouded views on ‘I might finish here’ or anything clouding your thought process going into a campaign like that.

“You’ve got to give it the respect it deserves.

“I wouldn’t do myself justice or my teammates justice if I was thinking about anything else.”

-AAP

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