Selectors would be mad not to pick sultan of swing Chadd Sayers for Brisbane Test: Richard Earle
THE figures don’t lie — swing king and Redbacks strike weapon Chadd Sayers must make his Test debut against Pakistan in Brisbane, says Richard Earle. But don’t hold your breath ...
CHADD Sayers is the living end of inconsistent selection policy that confounds and discredits faith in the system.
National selectors are under immense pressure to display courage and conviction by unleashing Sheffield Shield’s leading bowler — Sayers — against Pakistan in the pink ball Test series opener starting Thursday at the Gabba.
Sayers, 29, has 196 first-class wickets at an immaculate 24 average and would be odds on to snare another four against Pakistan in the humidity of swing-friendly Brisbane.
Regrettably, selectors have chased their tails for so long they are inevitably a step behind the game, whether it was Peter Siddle during the 2015 Ashes, Jackson Bird in Hobart last month or Sayers for Brisbane.
Sayers has 14 pink ball wickets this summer and 29 at 18 overall to offer an enticing and inform point of difference to Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for Australian skipper Steve Smith.
However the selectors will find it hard to ditch seamer Jackson Bird, who was overlooked for Perth and Hobart Test losses against South Africa.
Sayers, 29, was drafted into the squad for the third Test against South Africa, pumped up for his Adelaide Oval expertise, then overlooked for Bird.
A mind-numbing mantra for players to go back to Shield and perform doesn’t hold up in Sayers’ case, the most prolific domestic paceman over the past four summers.
Sayers has 157 Sheffield Shield wickets at 23 since 2012 — using the swing and relentless appetite for the contest that is rare in the modern age.
Nic Maddinson was selected on “instinct” and modest Shield average of 38 and rolled for a duck on debut against South Africa in Adelaide.
All-rounder Mitch Marsh is another case in point where potential has mattered more than performance in the Test arena.
Greg Chappell was selector on duty as Sayers (5/27) ensured New South Wales was rolled for a record low Adelaide total of 87 and lost by two wickets on Wednesday.
Sayers “hoped he like what he saw” but will it count for Chappell and co-selectors Trevor Hohns, Darren Lehmann and Mark Waugh?
Having shaken ankle and foot injuries that sabotaged his 2015-16 Shield final, Sayers has “never felt better” and deserves a shot to show the damage he could inflict on an Ashes tour.
Failure to reward the man known as the Sultan will offer persuasive proof that Shield form has little connection to Test selection.
Sayers was told he was too slow and small for first-class cricket until Darren Berry intervened on arrival as Redbacks coach in 2011. Sayers is experiencing another glass ceiling as he pushes for a baggy green.
It’s the great case of the sort of pace prejudice that would have ruled legendary swing-man Terry Alderman out of the game.
The numbers don’t lie.