Doggett ready to answer call if needed for the Ashes as he gets on track to start the Sheffield Shield season.
Doggett ‘definitely ready’ if Ashes reinforcements needed.
Brendan Doggett is in the “prime of his career” and has been endorsed by Ryan Harris, his South Australia coach, to be able to move into Test cricket during the Ashes if necessary.
Doggett, who was a travelling reserve for the World Test Championship final against South Africa, was included in the Australia Test team last season after being called up for the first time in 2018 for a series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
He was scheduled to travel the West Indies before being pulled due to a hip ailment, but he is expected to start for the double reigning champions this season. His workload will then be monitored in tandem with the Australian setup.
“He’s had a really good winter,” Harris told. “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 career-best 6 for 15 against India A in Mackay last season led to his promotion to the Test team. He finished with 44 first-class wickets at 20.56, after taking 32 at 21.90 the previous season, and completed his summer with a career-best 11-wicket haul in the Sheffield Shield final, where South Australia won the title with a triumph against Queensland.
“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.”