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Who is Brendan Doggett? The 31-year-old set for Australia debut in The Ashes

Soumyajit Dutta

Brendan Doggett [Source: @7Cricket/X.com]Brendan Doggett [Source: @7Cricket/X.com]

Brendan Doggett, the 31-year-old South Australian quick, is set to get his Test cap in the upcoming 1st Test of The Ashes on November 21 at Perth Optus Stadium, given the unavailability of frontline pacer Josh Hazlewood. 

The Queensland-born has an illustrious career of 50 first-class matches and was also named in multiple squads over the last 18 months for Australia but never got his shot until now.

Early days and rise of Brendan Doggett

Though he is yet to be named in the Playing XI against England, the proud Toowoomba-born will be eager to make his international debut. Notably, Doggett, a late bloomer, is also set to belong to a club of players who had their Test debuts for Australia without having played a single white-ball international in their 20s.

Doggett began his cricket career early for Toowoomba Souths but never stepped up for a representative team before his twenties. His debut match was for Cricket Australia XI for the One-Day Cup in October 2016.

Jason Gillespie, Brendan Doggett's South Australia coach, shared a few words on his unorthodox rise while praising the 190 first-class wicket-taker's grit.

"His path to a potential Baggy Green is not a common one in the modern game. It just shows the value of our local competitions, playing away and working on your craft," Gillespie said.

Only the third indigenous man to play for Australia in Tests

More significantly, given his Aboriginal heritage, Brendan Doggett is also the third man, after Scott Boland and Jason Gillespie, to represent the country as an indigenous man in 150 years of Test cricket, a person who has been a native of Australia since his birth.

Though Doggett's career was marred by injuries, he received his first call-up for Australia back in 2018, just months after the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Nevertheless, with Hazlewood out of the fray, the 43-wicket taker of the BBL will be itching to get the 472nd Test cap for Australia to get slated beside Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.