Already nervous as he waited to bat in a tight match, Brendan Doggett’s heart rate skyrocketed when told he could be a week away from a Test debut.
As South Australia were pulling off a crucial Sheffield Shield run chase in Hobart last Wednesday, news filtered out of Sydney that star quick Josh Hazlewood had hurt his hamstring.
After initially being cleared of any damage, Hazlewood on Saturday was ruled out of the first Test against England.
With captain Pat Cummins still sidelined due to a back injury, Doggett is set to join veteran speedster Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland in Australia’s fast-bowling cartel to begin the Ashes.
Travis Head was the one who let slip to his Redbacks teammate that he could become the country’s 472nd Test cricketer.
“I was getting the whites on to pad up, so I was very nervous,” Doggett, who wasn’t required to bat after all, said in Perth on Monday.
“Then ‘Heady’ was sitting next to me … he was winding me up a bit.
“So it’s not really what I needed at the time.
“When ‘Heady’ told me, your brain’s going a million miles an hour and you’re thinking what might happen.
“But it’s good now that my here in Perth, I feel a lot more relaxed.”
Doggett’s likely debut will come seven years after first being picked in an Australian Test squad.
Born and raised in Toowoomba, his bold decision to leave Queensland, after winning two Shield titles, for Adelaide in 2021 has paid off.
The 31-year-old has learned off two superb former quicks – Ryan Harris and Jason Gillespie – as his coaches in South Australia.
Doggett spearheaded his adopted state to a drought-breaking Shield triumph in March with a player of the match 11-wicket haul.
“I don’t know how ready you can be for Test cricket,” Doggett said.
“But the last 18 months, to two years, has easily been the most successful I’ve been in terms of numbers (of wickets), but also just confidence in my body, confidence in my game.”
Doggett never made any representative team until he was in his early 20s, eventually earning a Queensland contract after dominating club cricket when he was working as a carpenter in Toowoomba.
“I feel like I’ve lived two lives,” Doggett said.
“Early on my career, I felt lucky just to be here and have this opportunity. I still do.
“Even this week, my old boss has been texting me, and tradesmen that I worked with, people I came across on job sites have been messaging me.
“It takes me back to those days, and it just reminds me of who I really am.
“I go back to Toowoomba, I’m just a tradie again, put the nail bag on and keep building houses.
“I loved that life.
“I was playing country cricket and working as a carpenter, and that was the dream for me.
“This is all just a bonus.”
Doggett is set to become just Australia’s third Indigenous Test cricketer, joining the second, Boland, in the same XI.
Boland believes Doggett is more than ready for an Ashes debut.
“He brings a real skill, a fast outswing bowler,” Boland said on Monday.
“He’s someone who can bowl really long spells.
“He tends to bowl bowl 20 or 25 in a day, they (SA) push their quicks a little bit more than what some other teams do.”
Doggett’s partner Jacki, who is expecting the couple’s second child in March, will only join him in Perth once he is confirmed to be in the XI.
“We’ve got a two-and-a-half year old, so travelling is not that easy,” he said.
“I’ve got all my family and her family back in Brisbane.
“If it is happening, there’ll be people coming from everywhere, which would be exciting.”
Doggett, and fellow potential Test debutant Jake Weatherald, trained with the rest of the Australian squad at Perth Stadium on Monday for the first time since the group arrived in the WA capital.
