Sayers sets sights on Ashes berth

Chadd Sayers, the South Australian spearhead, naturally was feeling excited after his painstaking toil and continual excellence in the Sheffield Shield appeared to have been rewarded in the best possible fashion.

After the Australian selectors savagely wielded the axe following an embarrassing loss against South Africa in Hobart last November, Sayers seemed poised to make his Test debut on his home ground of the Adelaide Oval. A menacing swing bowler, Sayers appeared the logical choice to replace dumped quick Joe Mennie for the pink ball third Test against South Africa.

Speculation was rife that Sayers was going to be handed a Baggygreen but selectors went with reliable quick Jackson Bird in an agonising decision. "Rumours were going around and I thought I was in line (for selection)," Sayers recalls to Cricbuzz. "It was a flip of a coin decision and selectors went with Bird, who is a very good bowler and performed well. That's sport."

Bird, a probing bowler much like Sayers, did enough in Adelaide to hold his spot for the next two Tests against Pakistan and earned selection for the subsequent tour of India. Conversely, things could have been much different for Sayers had he played in Adelaide but the often overlooked bowler plied away at the domestic level, where he continually eviscerated batting lineups in an utterly dominant Sheffield Season yielding 62 wickets.

His haul was 12 more than second-placed Jon Holland and just five shy of the Shield record set by former Australian Test spinner Colin Miller in 1997-98. Fittingly, Sayers won the Sheffield Shield Player-of-the-Year Award testament to his unnerving accuracy coupled with an innate ability to dangerously move the ball around marked by a knack of generating late outswing to right-handers.

Sayers has been a constant in the wickets since a spectacular 2012-13 breakout season, where he topped the Shield's wicket-taker's list with 48 scalps at 18.52. Continually improving ever since, he rose to another level during an astounding recently concluded Australian summer which reached a crescendo during the Shield final, where he took 7 for 84 in Victoria's first innings on a flat Traeger Park pitch in Alice Springs.

"I think my improvement and strong season was mainly due to having my first injury free pre-season, so I was coming into the season off a really strong base," Sayers says. "I was a little bit shocked to win (Shield Player-of-the-Year) and you don't play for individual accolades but it is an honour."

Think of an archetypal Australian quick and you undoubtedly picture a tall, snarling firebrand intimidating through bounce and pace. In the midst of a boon, Australia has the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Josh Hazlewood who essentially fit the mould.

Conversely, Sayers is relatively diminutive standing at 180cm (5 foot 11) and his quickest bowling barely tests the radar at sedate speeds of around 130kmph. These docile characteristics help explain why Sayers is often neglected into the background in a country obsessed with speedsters.

For Sayers, the constant stereotyping is something he's used to but has fuelled extra motivation. "I've often been told that I'm not good enough because I don't bowl quick and I don't have the height," he says. "It does make me want to be even more successful to prove a point and chuck it back at their (critics') faces."

As a youngster watching Australia at their zenith, Sayers found inspiration through legendary paceman Glenn McGrath, who had the advantage of being vertically gifted to extract sharp bounce but a relentless line and length was the backbone of his incredible career.

Sayers never sought to bowl faster or become something he wasn't but instead, smartly, honed his strengths.

"Glenn McGrath was a favourite of mine and the best at what he did even though he didn't have express pace," he says. "Because I don't have the pace, I knew I had to focus on line and length hitting good areas because if you don't then you will get punished in First-Class cricket."

Pigeonholed as a longer format specialist, Sayers hasn't been given a chance in the various Twenty20 competitions but believes he has the skillset to thrive in cricket's shortest format. "I would love to be involved in T20 cricket and it is such an exciting format," he says. "I would love to get a chance to show everyone that I am not a one-trick pony."

Initially, Sayers hoped to spend the Australian off-season playing in the UK but visa issues intervened meaning he has some idle time on his hands although a tour of South Africa with Australia 'A' mid-year could beckon. It provides an opportunity for Sayers to have a breather ahead of what shapes as a defining Australian season for him.

"I wanted to play County cricket but now I have a chance to recuperate and let the body have some rest," he says. "It is a chance to be fit and firing for the start of next summer."

Due to his proficiency at moving the ball around, Sayers has already been touted as a logical candidate for a berth on the Ashes tour in 2019 in a bid to help end Australia's long drought in the UK. However, Sayers has set his sights on more immediate goals.

"I have been talked about touring the UK in 2019, which is in the back of my head, but I want to play in this upcoming Ashes (in Australia starting in November)," he admits. "It will be about performing well in the Sheffield Shield and seeing what happens from there."

Of course, Sayers, even if he continues his sizzling Shield form, will have to contend with Australia's rich pace stocks with Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Pattinson being likened by Australian coach Darren Lehmann as potential forming a pace battery reminiscent of those frightening West Indian arsenals from the 1980s.

A pragmatic Sayers realises he is down in the pecking order but also knows opportunities are likely to emerge. "I'm probably behind those guys for a position but injuries occur all the time and you just have to be ready and in-form," he says. "If you keep taking wickets, they (selectors) can't ignore you."

Perhaps it's frustrating for him to not receive his just rewards and be peaking right at a time when Australia's pace stocks are plentiful. However, for a journeyman like Sayers, to be on the cusp of a Test berth is something that still feels rather fantastical after years of slogging it out at the local level in South Australia.

"When I was playing club cricket I couldn't have imagined of being in this position," Sayers says. "Back then, I was just dreaming of playing for South Australia. I've just always enjoyed playing the game and gone from there. I'm extremely driven and will put my best foot forward to keep improving and being in the mix to play for Australia."