Wanganui cricketer Nick Blundell had a lot on his mind as he jumped in the car to drive from Palmerston North back to his old stomping grounds at Wanganui Collegiate.
Working through his New Zealand Under 19 training programme with coach Dilan Raj at the Wanganui academy, the now 1.96m tall median pacer is trying to shore up everything from improving his batting to be a handy lower-order option, to lifting his fielding which let him down a little in the heat of Darwin last month.
Blundell and mate Henry Collier were in the New Zealand Under-19 team which failed to make the Tri Series final against India and Australia, beating the home team once of their two games and missing the final on run rate.
They also defeated Papua New Guinea, who have also qualified for the U19 World Cup, in a one-off match while splitting two matches against Northern Territory teams.
Blundell took two wickets on tour and acknowledges he has a lot of work to do as the wider New Zealand team goes into a camp on October 7.
It is his last chance as the final New Zealand U19 World Cup squad will be announced after that.
Blundell said in the stifling conditions in Darwin, where temperatures ranged in the mid-30s despite being winter, it was tough to match up with the undefeated Indians.
As hosts of the coming World Cup, the cricket-mad nation even follows their youth team religiously, several of the squad have played in the IPL while victorious captain Vijay Zol was given a parade when they returned home.
"They were quite confident guys, I guess they thought they were at another level," said Blundell.
"It was the 30 overs of spin they bowled in a game. They would spin both ways.
"The only kind of weakness they've got is the short ball."
"India's got thousands of guys pushing for spots and Australia's got their academy system well sorted out.
"We're not too far away from the Australians."
For his part, Blundell knows it was his chance to distinguish himself among the four seamers but it did not go as well as he wanted.
"Figures wise, I was not too good.
"In Lincoln [against Australia in April], I had a couple of dropped catches and first game there, I dropped two."
Blundell remains confident of retaining his place for January's World Cup, which has been on his horizon since making the wider squad late last year.
"We'll cover all the bases and build from there.
"They took me on two tours so they obviously have some belief in me, we're not out of it yet."
Collier also struggled with the bat against India and Australia, as he had to fight off a bout of sickness in the extreme heat.
He did score well in the games against Northern Territory, including a century in the opening tour match.
"I had to help him take his pads off, he was a bit buggered," said Blundell.
The World Cup in India will involve a mix of nations from the favoured major association teams like the hosts, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia, through to the minor association qualifiers like PNG, Scotland and Nepal.