How Brendon McCullum’s advice to Brendan Doggett about Kevin Pietersen shaped the Australian fast bowler

“For the batsmen, it was about keeping the game going and trying to clear the ropes and entertain; it was something he took into the Test cricket arena and people were talking. The ‘Bash Brothers’ team, we were selling out the Gabba for every home game and they were putting on absolute batting clinics.”

Doggett agreed when asked about the possibility of bouncer schemes against England at the Optus Stadium, where deep square boundaries offer space for deep catches.

“Regardless of the ground size, there is always room for buffer spells in this form of cricket,” he said.

“Neil Wagner didn’t do it here not too long ago and it looked pretty difficult, so I think you’ll see both guys going for it at some stage this summer and yeah, it’s always a really good door-knocking tactic when you’ve got such big square boundaries.”

It would be an incredibly proud moment for Doggett to take the field alongside Scott Boland, seven years after the duo were part of a memorable Natives tour of the UK to retrace the steps of the 1868 Natives’ First XI.

Asked if he thought they would be Test team-mates in 2018, Doggett said: “Not at all, you couldn’t even say last year would I have imagined it would be fair.” “But watching what Scotty did was a great example for me.

“He’s been bowling his best ever in his career and you’ve seen late in life how dominant he is in international cricket. He’s a great example for me to see that I still have plenty of time and if I get the opportunity I can make a big impact at this stage.”

“Representing Indigenous Australia is something I’m very proud of and I feel like it’s a great opportunity to be a face and an example. The numbers are growing and that’s the big thing for us, if we can inspire some young Indigenous kids to try and play for Australia that’s our aim.”

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Another former teammate of Doggett’s is recalled batsman and now Queensland captain Marnus Labuschagne. The pair had some banter about their records against each other, most recently after Doggett missed SA’s Shield match against the Bulls in which Labuschagne fashioned a century.

“I was saying I couldn’t play him in our Shield match before, where he scored a hundred against us,” laughed Doggett. “When he scored, I texted him and said, ‘I’m lucky I didn’t play.’ And he said, ‘If you had played, I would have scored 200 goals.’

“But he’s in pretty rich form at the moment. I’d still like to think I’ve got him through, I’ve taken him out a few times, either hit him on the shin or put him out, so I’d like to continue that in the nets if I can.”

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