Kent batsman Alex Blake hopes a five-month stint in Australia has given him the confidence to nail down a place in the side this season.

After a difficult 2011 in which he scored just 280 runs at an average of 17 in the LV=County Championship and an equally disappointing 72 in seven innings in the Clydesdale Bank 40, Blake spent the winter in Perth in an attempt to "go back to basics".

The 23-year-old (pictured) worked with batting coach Noddy Holder – who has helped Kent skipper Rob Key and the former Australia opener Justin Langer in their careers – in a bid to regain the form that earned the left-hander a three-year contract at the beginning of last year.

Winter training is already showing signs of bearing fruit, after Blake hit a brisk 58 in Kent’s first pre-season outing – a 21-run defeat against Middlesex at Beckenham last Friday.

"It was the first pre-season game and is a bit different to practising at Canterbury, but it was good to get some runs at this stage of the summer," he said.

"I didn’t have a great year last season and you end up looking at things too deep. The idea of the game is to score runs, so it’s time to put my hands up and hit the ball, and not worry too much about my high elbow or whether my head is falling over.

"I feel in quite a good place with my batting now after those few months in Australia. Hopefully I will be able to carry on from where I left off last week and get on a good run."

The arrival of Brendan Nash, Michael Powell and Ben Harmison has increased competition for places in the batting order and Blake is aware he faces a battle to break into the side, particularly in the championship.

"Competition is high, which is only good for the club," he said. "I’m not too sure about whether or not I am going to get in the side at the start of the season. I maybe looking at one-day cricket to begin with. Obviously I would love to be playing that first game at Yorkshire, but when you look at some of the players we have got to come back, such as Darren Stevens and James Tredwell, we have quite a strong side."