Revealed: how close Chadd Sayers came to earning a baggy green

AS Chadd Sayers sat in the Gabba dressingroom last summer, the swing magician from South Australia had no idea he was just 10 metres and a selector away from earning a baggy green.

HOW close has Chadd Sayers been to a baggy green cap? About 10 metres.

They had one ready for him hidden away not far from where he was sitting in the Gabba dressingroom last summer.

But it stayed in its packet after Nathan Lyon won a tight match-morning decision to play the Gabba’s day-night Test against Pakistan.

Sayers also nearly got one in New Zealand and again on his home ground in Adelaide in recent seasons.

Chadd Sayers at the Adelaide Oval. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Nearly. Nearly. Nearly. But still no cigar.

The great worry for Sayers is that if he misses out in Adelaide, understandable given the form and quality of the men ahead of him, where on earth does he get a game? If his 40 wickets in five Sheffield Shield games in Adelaide last season can’t get him a home Test where does he play?

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Unless conditions are downright sympathetic to swing bowling, Jackson Bird could easily slide in ahead of him at most venues.

If Sayers never gets a chance to show his wares to the world at Test level it will be a case of a man not getting what he deserves.

His very presence as an old-fashioned swing bowler would have a delightful charm to it because he is the type of bowler Australia never likes to pick.

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Australia craves for macho men who can hurl it rather than curl it.

They want bowlers who can push the speed gun past 140km/h not caress it to 130km/h. And yet the late outswinger, Sayers’ most potent ball, is still one of the greatest weapons in cricket and becoming more venomous by the year as batsmen with heavy blades and leaden feet hook themselves. Ask England’s 508 wicket Test champion Jimmy Anderson.

Sayers exceptional first-class record of 243 wickets at 23.5 apiece does not guarantee he would be a success at Test level but it should demand he gets a chance to at least show his wares.

Chadd Sayers storms in during a nets session at Adelaide Oval.

Dozens of bowlers with inferior records have got Tests. It’s hard to find one with a better record who has missed out.

Australia have a select group of heartbreak kids who deserved to play Test cricket but didn’t.

They include Jamie Siddons, who Steve Waugh reckoned was as good as he was, David Hussey, plus keepers Darren Berry and Chris Hartley.

Hopefully Sayers won’t join the club.

Originally published as Revealed: how close Chadd Sayers came to earning a baggy green