Middlesex's coup in snapping up Aussie starlet Phillip Hughes was a triumph of insider knowledge for Angus Fraser.
Middlesex's new director of cricket swooped this week to clinch a deal for the 20-year-old opener, recently touted by former Aussie great Mark Waugh as the next big thing to wear a baggy green.
And it seems the secret to Fraser getting his man ahead of several other interested counties was help from some old friends.
The former Middlesex pace man spent two seasons in club cricket Down Under in the mid 90s at the same Sydney club, Western Suburbs, where Hughes began his meteoric rise - leading to his selection for the forthcoming tour of South Africa.
The son of a banana farmer, Hughes will arrive at Lord's hot-foot from his Test duties ready for the first county fixture against Glamorgan on
April 22, and will stay until Murali Kartik returns from playing in the Indian Premier League in early June.
Fraser said: "I've still got some friends at Western Suburbs from the two years I played out there so was able to get good references about Phillip Hughes.
"We are delighted to have secured one of the best young talents in world cricket and pleased he chose us over other counties who wanted his signature."
Hughes chose cricket over rugby league, playing A-grade level by the age of 12 and scored a century (141 not out) on his debut for Western Suburbs aged 17.
Selected for Australia's U19s against Pakistan in July 2007, he averaged 96.75 in five innings and earned a rookie contract for New South Wales for the 2007-8 season.
A half-century on his debut against Tasmania was the cue for one century and five other 50s that year at an average of 62, figures he's bettered this year in scoring almost 1,000 runs for the state.
Unsurprisingly, Fraser isn't worried about either Hughes' tender age, or his lack of experience in English conditions.
"I watched Liverpool versus Everton the other night and David Moyes wasn't afraid to throw a couple of 17-year-olds into the battle, and I'm not fearful of that either," he said.
"And good players adapt to the conditions they face. There are different pitches in Australia from Sydney to Perth.
"Andrew Strauss didn't have any match practice in India before the recent Test match and got a century in each innings."
