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After sensationally being overlooked originally for Australia’s tour of South Africa, pace bowler Chadd Sayers has been added to the Test squad after Jackson Bird was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury.
Sayers was originally overlooked for the side as Bird and young Western Australian quick Jhye Richardson were included, the latter on his first tour.
Bird injured himself bowling for Tasmania on Saturday in the Tigers’ Sheffield Shield fixture against Queensland at the Gabba, with the selectors taking the obvious option of replacing him with Sayers.
The South Australian quick hasn’t been in the same stellar form of last season when he took a staggering 60 wickets, but he has been a solid contributor with the ball for the Redbacks. In five matches, he has picked up 17 wickets at 32.82, with his constant swing and accuracy troubling batsmen around the country.
His bowling is expected to suit South African conditions, with pitches in the Rainbow Nation often green and conducive to swing bowling. Despite that, Sayers will only get a run if there are injuries, with Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins the attack likely to start the series when it gets underway on March 1 in Durban.
Australian captain Steve Smith said it was a like-for-like swap.
“It’s disappointing for Jackson, but it’s exciting for Chadd at the same time. It’s a like-for-like (replacement), they’re both pretty similar. They both stand the seam up nicely and Chadd’s been rewarded for what he’s done in Shield cricket over the last couple of years,” said Smith.
Since being overlooked for the original squad, Sayers has gone public, saying he didn’t get so much as a phone call to explain his absence after the phenomenal Shield season he had in 2016-17.
The quick is yet to make his Test debut for Australia, but has astonishing career numbers of 234 wickets at just 24.11, having debuted for the Redbacks in 2011.
He has been earmarked as a potential Test player for years, with multiple appearances for Cricket Australia sides playing against touring nations in warm-up games, but has never been able to crack the next level.
He has had plenty of near misses though, with the 30-year-old included in a touring party to New Zealand in 2016 and being picked for four Test squads at home, including the first two of the recently completed 2017-18 Ashes series.
Full squad to tour South Africa
Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
Fixtures
1st Test: March 1 at Kingsmead, Durban
2nd Test: March 9 at St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
3rd Test: March 22 at Newlands, Cape Town
4th Test: March 30 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg