Australian batsman Marcus Harris is all set to take a break from cricket for a while following an exhausting maiden Test summer, as he has decided to skip playing county cricket this summer to stay fresh for Ashes 2019 to be played in England later this year.

The left-handed opener was planning to play in the English county cricket in a bid to prepare for the Ashes series here, but he canceled his plans after a tough international cricket over the past two months to recharge himself for the high-voltage Test contest.

Harris told cricket.com.au at the launch of the Grassroots Cricket Fund, which will pump $30 million into cricket clubs around Australia, “I was looking at it for a little while. But once I got to the point where I was actually pretty worn out after the Tests, I thought the best thing for me was then have a break.”

The 26-year-old continued, “I definitely thought about it, but then I thought if I don't have a break, I'll be pretty much non-stop for the whole time. (My manager) was in discussions, but nothing too serious. I shut it down after a little bit because I didn't want to lead anyone astray.”

Meanwhile, Harris’ fellow Test opening contenders - Joe Burns (Lancashire), Matthew Renshaw (Kent) and Cameron Bancroft (Durham) - will all travel to England to play county cricket to push their claims for the spot in Australia’s Ashes squad.

While David Warner will also return for the Ashes 2019 with Usman Khawaja making things even more difficult for Harris to manage a spot in the national squad for the Ashes 2019.

However, the batsman hopeful of earning a place for himself for the grand Test affair, saying the remainder of the 2018-19 Sheffield Shield and a couple of Australia A assignments in June and July will provide him enough opportunities to retain his Test spot for the Ashes 2019.

Harris explained, “I know if I make some runs, that stuff will look after itself. There's plenty of water to go under the bridge. I missed an opportunity in the Sri Lanka series, but that's cricket. Sometimes that's the way things go. I put myself in a position to make some big runs on a few occasions.

I had a few really good partnerships and while it was disappointing not to get a big score, hopefully, I'll learn from that and it'll hold me in good stead. If someone said to me at the start of the summer that I'd play six Tests and win a series, I would have told them to get stuffed. It was great to be a part of it and great to be around that group and learn so much.”

While Harris will feature in the remainder of the 2018-19 BBL and Sheffield Shield encounter, the opener has admitted that playing Test cricket took more toll on him mentally and physically than he expected, saying: “I worked out towards the end of the summer how tiring it can be playing Test cricket. (Victoria and Melbourne Renegades coach Andrew McDonald) said he could tell that I was tired, and I didn't even realize until a bit afterward.”

Harris signed off by saying, “Going back to the Big Bash for a week in between Test series and then the two Tests against Sri Lanka, you're just not as sharp. You're not so much physically tired, more mentally tired. But having played Test cricket now, going forward I think I'll know how to manage my time a bit better and prepare.”

(With cricket.com.au Inputs)