‘I’ll be ready’: SA quick hoping for Ashes squad call
Steve Larkin |
South Australian paceman Brendan Doggett hopes his wicket-laden comeback is perfectly timed ahead of Australia selecting its Ashes squad.
Doggett, who has been on the radar for seven years without cracking a Test debut, made a triumphant Sheffield Shield return from a hamstring injury last week.
The 31-year-old snared seven wickets against Western Australia, including a haul of 6-48 in the first innings, to remind national selectors of his ability.
“It was obviously my first hit-out of the season with the red ball, I guess the timing was perfect to take a six-for,” Doggett told reporters on Tuesday.
The Rockhampton-born quick was summoned to Australia’s Test squad for the first time in 2018 for a series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
In December last year, he was called as cover for an injured Josh Hazlewood in the Test series against India.
And the 31-year-old was again part of Australia’s squad for the World Test Championship final against South Africa in England in June.
That call-up followed Doggett’s prolific wicket-taking for South Australia when the state won the Sheffield Shield for the first time since 1995/96.
The right-armer returned the best-ever match figures in a Shield final, claiming 11-140, and took 33 wickets at 24.15 in the four-day competition.
Doggett, who also won a Shield final with Queensland in 2021, has yet to have any contact with Australian selectors ahead of this week’s naming of the squad for the first Test against England starting November 21.
“No word yet,” he said.
“I have been waiting for this for a long time so I feel like if I do get a call to join that squad, I’ll be ready. We’ll see what happens.”
Doggett is among a batch of domestic pacemen playing in an era when the Test team is dominated by world-renowned fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood.
‘We have got the best bowling attack in world cricket and we have done for a long time,” he said.
“So it’s just great for me to be able to share a changeroom with these world-class bowlers and watch how they go about it, how durable and professional they are.
“It’s great for Australian cricket, those guys have won pretty much every trophy you can win.
“So I can look at it and feel sorry for myself or you can go ‘well, what a time to be around these sort of guys’.
“They’re going to go down in history as the best to ever do it so it’s pretty cool to be able to rub shoulders with them.”
AAP
