The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Chadd Sayers must play ahead of Jhye Richardson in South Africa

13th February, 2018
Advertisement
Chadd Sayers looks set to finally get a go in the Test side. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Expert
13th February, 2018
54
1407 Reads

Chadd Sayers never looked likely to make his Test debut this home summer, despite spending time in Australia’s Ashes squad, but has a much better opportunity on the four-Test tour of South Africa.

While Sayers was in the squad for the first two Ashes matches, he remained behind back-up quick Jackson Bird in the pecking order, with Bird released for the second Test so he could stay match-fit in the Sheffield Shield.

The Aussies were always going to favour express quicks, believing they could rattle England’s batsmen, and if a steady option was needed then Bird was the man.

Now, however, Bird is out of the picture due to injury and Australia look set to encounter some green South African pitches, which will suit precision over pace. Sayers is suddenly a genuine chance of earning a baggy green.

Sayers is likely viewed as the understudy for Josh Hazlewood, the most accurate and miserly of Australia’s incumbent Test quicks. Young tearaway Jhye Richardson, meanwhile, would be the dynamic option should one of the express pair of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins get injured.

Jhye Richardson

Jhye Richardson. (AAP Image/Darren England)

Given the series will be quite long, there is every chance one of Hazlewood, Starc or Cummins could get injured. Starc and Hazlewood started the Australian summer returning from injury, while Cummins has been famously fragile across his seven years as a professional cricketer.

Sayers and Richardson are not just making up the numbers on this tour, they could easily find themselves on the field. The intensity and importance of this series may well lead the selectors to favour the experienced Sayers over the rookie Richardson if a replacement is required.

Advertisement

While Richardson has just 22 wickets to his name in first-class cricket, Sayers owns 246 victims at that level. Although he is having a middling domestic campaign, with 17 wickets at 33, no one has taken more wickets than Sayers across the past five Shield seasons.

In an era when many Australian cricketers have earned Test caps based on potential, or short bursts of form, Sayers has been forced to graft long and hard for recognition. Not just from the Australian selectors either – Sayers had to record four consecutive top-three finishes in the Bradman Medal, awarded to the best player in Adelaide grade cricket, before South Australia finally handed him a Shield debut, at age 23.

He was 25 years old by the time he started getting a regular game for SA, in the 2012-13 season. Sayers was the leading wicket-taker in the Shield that summer, with 48 wickets at 18, a performance which earned him four caps for Australia A in mid-2013.

He was selected again for Australia A during their winter matches in 2014 and 2016, taking 28 wickets at 25 across three separate stints.

[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]

In early 2016, Sayers looked set to finally make the leap to international cricket when he was picked in Australia’s Test squad for the two-Test tour of New Zealand, where conditions suit accurate medium pacers.

With Starc unavailable, and squad members James Pattinson and Peter Siddle battling injuries, Sayers appeared likely to play in the first Test alongside Hazlewood and Bird. Instead, Siddle managed to recover in time to play at Wellington and then Pattinson returned for the second Test, leaving Sayers on the sidelines.

Advertisement

Just like in New Zealand, the pitches in South Africa should be perfect for Sayers. South Africa served up two very green decks out of three Tests against India last month and will fancy they can beat Australia in such conditions, having routed them on a green seamer in Hobart just over a year ago.

Sayers is tailor-made for juicy pitches given his similarity in style to Proteas paceman Vernon Philander, who has an extraordinary record at home.

Just like Philander, Sayers operates at a gentle pace in the 125-130kmh bracket and has the rare ability to land delivery after delivery on a testing length on or just outside off-stump. Both men can move the ball through the air and off the seam in a manner which exposes deficiencies in batting techniques.

Yet Sayers is not a green-track bully – no such bowler could thrive playing in the Shield for South Australia, whose pitch at Adelaide has often been flat over the course of his career. He has earned the right to be Australia’s first-choice back-up quick, with Richardson better left as a last resort.

Richardson has the ability to become a fine international bowler, but he remains green in first-class cricket. Debuting away from home against the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Quentin de Kock is an enormous task for any bowler, let alone a 21-year-old.

Australia should leave Richardson to gain valuable experience in the nets on this tour and give Sayers any Test opportunity that arises.

close