James Seymour's stunning form with the bat over the last 18 months has been rewarded by Big Bash League club the Melbourne Stars.
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The former Bendigo Cricket Club left-hander has been signed by the Stars as a replacement player for West Indian Nicholas Pooran.
Seymour was a joint winner of the Ryder Medal in Victorian Premier Cricket last summer and started this season with Essendon in brilliant form.
He leads the league in runs scored - 390 in five games - and made a superb century for the Premier Cricket all-stars against a Victorian squad team.
"It's something I've strived to do since I left Bendigo to come to Melbourne to see how far I could go with my cricket,'' Seymour said.
"It's something I've been aiming to do for a while.
This is up another level, so what I've done doesn't count for much at this level.
"I'll train as hard as I can and look to try and improve. This is another level up, so I'm here to train and learn and try to get better."
Seymour joined the Stars on Sunday and was around the group for the win over the Melbourne Renegades at the MCG.
After a day off on Monday, he joined the team for a training session at the MCG on Tuesday.
"They're all very serious with their training and they're all very competitive,'' Seymour said.
"It's good to be part of this sort of environment. The batting coach Luke Wright has told me to continue to play to my strengths and play my way.
"He said that some players can get sucked into trying to emulate the likes of Stoinis and Maxwell and the way they hit the ball. He said for me not to change anything in the way I play."
The off-spinner also had the chance to bowl to Stoinis, Maxwell and Andre Fletcher in the nets.
"It's about trying to bowl the ball into the wicket and not throw the ball up too much. Those lads can basically hit the ball wherever they like."
The Stars play the Renegades again on Wednesday night. Seymour is unlikely to play, but he's relishing the opportunity.
"Whatever experience I have here I want to get better and take that back to club cricket,'' he said.
Read more: Seymour wins Ryder Medal
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