WORCESTERSHIRE’S new Australian signing Phil Hughes is going home for Christmas and new year to work on his batting technique.

The 23-year-old opening batsman lost his Test place this week after a string of low scores put him under the media spotlight.

“You go out to bat, nick a couple, and you know everybody’s talking about it,” he said. “It made me shy away from my natural, positive game. I didn’t really hold my shape. I was coming off the ball, which made me nick the ball to the slip region.

“That’s something we’re going to sort out over the next couple of weeks. We’re going to fine-tune my technique.”

Hughes, who is going home to Macksville, New South Wales, to work with coach Neil D’Costa, added: “Obviously there’s a couple of areas that need to be worked on.”

Despite being dropped, Hughes, the scorer of three Test hundreds, believes he will hit the ground running for Worcestershire.

“I’ve opened the batting all my life and always faced the ball going across me. I’m determined to sort it out,” he said.

Meanwhile, talented Worcestershire 18-year-old all-rounder Aneesh Kapil is in the England Under 19s squad which will tour Bangladesh next month.

The under 19s are due to depart the UK on January 12 for seven one-day internationals against their hosts.