Batsman Doolan set to atone

Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan is determined to fight his way back into Test selection this summer.

BYLINE: LUKE BOWDEN: Tasmanian cricketer, Alex Doolan with wife, Laura and 8 month old son Wilbur.

AYEAR on from having his Test ­career terminated weeks after scoring a sublime century in a tour match, Alex Doolan is ready to fight his way back up the selection pecking order.

After a sparkling 89 on his Test debut against South Africa last Feb­ruary, Doolan seemed likely to nail down the troublesome No.3 spot in the Australian batting line-up.

But three appearances in the baggy green later he was dropped for the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in October, a shock axing given his sublime form in the lead-in to the opening Test.

Desperate to regain his place for the first Test of the home summer, the 29-year-old admits things “snowballed out of control” as he ended the 2014-15 Sheffield Shield campaign with 355 runs at an average of 20.8.

The Tasmanian vice-captain looks back and openly admits his work ethic slid once he reached the Australian side, and concedes he was lucky to not be dropped from the state team after the leanest patch of his career.

“Last year was very disappointing from my point of view, of coming back from Test cricket to having the domestic season I had,” Doolan said as the Tigers prepared for their first Matador Cup match on Monday.

“It was something I haven’t forgot but certainly tried to put in my past and make sure everything I did this pre-season has put me in good stead to be a better cricketer and hopefully press my claim for a national call-up again. There were a lot of things that didn’t feel right about last year, my work ethic dropped off and I probably thought once I had made Test cricket I would then progress to be a Test cricketer.

“Once you see yourself stand still it is very easy to go backwards, which is what happened with me a little bit.

“You get dropped from anything and you want to make a few scores to get yourself back up there, when things didn’t go right maybe I tried a little bit too hard.

“Coming back from that Pakistan series I was just hopeful of getting some good scores on the board and hopefully getting a chance in that Test match at the Gabba.

“When things didn’t fall my way it snowballed out of control.”

Doolan was no lone ranger in his struggles in what turned out to be a horror year for Tasmania, with the batting group — Ed Cowan aside — failing to score a single century.

Captaining the side in the absence of George Bailey didn’t help, with the strokemaker unable to lead from the front as he would have liked.

“With George being away, it was really difficult for me to lead the rest of the group and try to set standards when I wasn’t adhering to them ­myself,” he said.

“The way we want to play as a group, you want to be picking your best team and I guess I was lucky not to get dropped from Tassie.

“I was certainly feeling the pinch but I guess grateful the selectors and coaches saw the faith in me to turn it around.

“Unfortunately it didn’t go that way, but this year I’m looking to repay the faith.”

Well settled off field, Doolan and wife Laura welcomed first child Wilbur Phillip earlier this year.

The couple had no hesitation in having their son’s middle name after the late Phillip Hughes, who Doolan quickly became close friends with after several tours together.

“For me it was an absolute no brainer, Phillip and I were very close and I want to bring my son up with the same values he lived by,” Doolan said of Hughes, who was killed last November when struck in the head while batting for NSW.

“ ‘Hughy’ and I got very close very quickly. It did affect me in a huge way and still does.

“It was a nice way we could honour the memory of him.”

Tasmania’s squad has undergone a rigorous pre-season, with coaching staff pushing the players to their physical and mental limits.

Doolan is confident it will have the group in pristine condition for the summer as it strives to win back some respect from the competition.

“The way last season worked out, not just for me but the team, it has lit a fire under us to really bounce back and make sure we have ticked all the boxes,” he said.

“We spent a lot of years gaining the respect of the competition to be one of the powerhouses in domestic cricket, last year and probably the year before we let that slip a bit.

“One of the places we let ourselves down last year was our work ethic.

“Maybe we took our success ... for granted a little bit and assumed it would all roll over and we would continue to be successful.

“As you see, that just doesn’t happen at a professional level.”