How McCullum’s advice to ‘bump’ Pietersen shaped Australia’s next speed demon

2 weeks ago 3

Perth: Brendan Doggett has revealed how England coach Brendon McCullum inspired him as a young cricketer, ahead of the Indigenous fast man’s probable debut as a pace bowling enforcer for Australia in the first Ashes Test in Perth.

McCullum was captain of the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League in Doggett’s early days, and one night at the Gabba he handed Doggett the ball with a simple instruction for how to bowl to Kevin Pietersen, then with the Melbourne Stars. “Bump him.”

Brendon McCullum during his time with the Brisbane Heat.

With those two words, McCullum made a young Doggett feel like he was capable of intimidating with his bouncer – something he may well be called to do again this week.

“Baz talked a lot about just allowing yourself to be in the moment and take it on,” Doggett told this masthead. “I remember bowling to Kevin Pietersen in my first game and Baz says ‘Bump him’, and I was like, ‘Oh right, here we go’, and then bumped him anyway.

“KP was not well liked in Brisbane obviously, so the crowd got behind me, and he was loving it, thought it was unbelievable.

“That’s the sort of mentality he took, and it gave you confidence as a player to be, ‘All right, I can do it, why not, take it on, what’s the worst that can happen, you get hit for six, move on, whatever’. He was a really good part of my career early on.”

Doggett, 31, has watched the evolution of Bazball with plenty of interest, but believes that McCullum’s essential messages to his players have not changed too much from the “Bash Brothers” era at the Heat.

“It feels like the language then was very similar to what they talk about now,” Doggett said. “He spoke about just expressing yourself as a player and for me as a bowler was jut to bowl fast and use my bouncer.

“For the batters it was taking the game on and trying to clear the ropes and be entertaining, something that he’s taken into the Test cricket arena, and it’s got people talking. That ‘Bash Brothers’ team, we were selling out the Gabba for every home game, and they were putting on absolute clinics of batting.”

Asked about the likelihood of bouncer plans against England at Optus Stadium, where the deep square boundaries offer scope for catches in the deep, Doggett agreed.

“There’s always a place for bumper spells in this form of cricket, regardless of the ground size,” he said.

“Neil Wagner did it out here not that long ago and it looked pretty difficult, so I think you’ll see both guys go to it at some stage throughout this summer, and yeah, when you’ve got such big square boundaries it’s always a really good wicket-taking tactic.”

It would be an incredibly proud moment for Doggett to walk onto the field alongside Scott Boland, seven years after the pair were part of an unforgettable Indigenous tour of the UK to retrace the steps of the 1868 Indigenous First XI.

“Not at all, you couldn’t have even said last year could I have imagined it to be fair,” Doggett said when asked if he thought in 2018 they would be Test teammates. “But watching what Scotty’s done, he’s been a great example for me.

“Late in his career he’s bowling the best he ever has, and you’ve seen how dominant he is at international cricket now at a late age. He’s a great example for me to see I’ve still got a lot of time left and can have a big impact on this stage if I get an opportunity.

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

Another former teammate of Doggett is the recalled batter and now Queensland captain Marnus Labuschagne. The pair exchange some banter about their records against each other, most recently after Doggett missed SA’s Shield games against the Bulls, where Labuschagne sculpted a century.

“I was spewing I didn’t get to play him in our Shield game earlier where he scored a hundred against us,” Doggett laughed. “When he scored it I texted him and said, ‘Lucky I wasn’t playing’ and he said, ‘I would’ve scored 200 if you were playing’.

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

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.