Doggett seems next in line...after Boland
No probs here, the guy has had an amazing last couple of years,and has some heat to him
Rhino reckons he is ready
View attachment 106146
Brendan Doggett is in the "prime of his career" and has been backed by his
South Australia coach Ryan Harris to be able to step into Test cricket during the Ashes if needed.
Doggett was part of the
Australia Test squad last season, having first been called up back in 2018 for a series against Pakistan in the UAE, and was a traveling reserve for the World Test Championship final against South Africa.
He had been due to tour the West Indies before being withdrawn because of a hip injury but is on track to start the season for the double defending champions although from there will have his workload managed in conjunction with the Australia set-up.
The depth of Australia's pace bowling has been brought firmly into view with Pat Cummins' back injury, and while
Scott Boland will be the next in line for a spot in the startling XI, Doggett is likely only one more injury away from a debut.
"He's had a really good winter," Harris told ESPNcricinfo. "He came back from the World Test Championship with a couple of niggles [but] he had good time to let them heal.
"He had a really good programme that he was following and he was diligent. We didn't take him to Darwin in our pre-season camp and let him just get himself right down here.
"We've got a couple of trial games [this week] which he'll bowl some good overs in. But what I've seen in training, he's up and about. He's ready to go. He's bowling fast and he's moving the ball, which is good. He'll definitely start for us."
Doggett's elevation to the Test squad last season came on the back of a career-best 6 for 15 against
India A in Mackay. He capped his summer with a career-best match haul of 11 wickets in
the Sheffield Shield final, where South Australia secured the title with victory over Queensland, to finish with 44 first-class wickets at 20.56 which followed 32 wickets at 21.90 the previous season.
"He's definitely ready [for Test cricket]," Harris said. "[With] his mind, I think, and the confidence he has now in his game. He was a bit mixed [up] probably a couple of years ago where he was trying to swing it and he wasn't trying to swing it, but he's worked it all out.
"He knows what he needs to do. He knows when he has step it up and bowl quick and knows he can control his pace. He's in the prime of his career now. There's no doubt that if Brendan gets a call, I have absolute full confidence in that he can go in and do a good job in that team."
There will be a balancing act for the selectors in the lead-up to the Ashes in ensuring the fast bowlers in the mix have enough work to be ready while avoiding pushing them too far.
It is expected that
Mitchell Starc and
Josh Hazlewood will combine the ODIs against India with potentially one Sheffield Shield game for New South Wales before the first Test, while Boland is expected to play at least two four-day games for Victoria. Lance Morris, who would have been in the frame, has been ruled out for 12 months after undergoing back surgery.
www.nine.com.au
