Doggett set for run with the Bulls

Young right-arm quick Brendan Doggett has been called up as part of the 2017 my FootDr Queensland Bulls' JLT One Day Cup squad, with last year's runners-up set to begin their campaign next week at Allan Border Field.

The 14-man squad is headed by recent Australia Test squad members Usman Khawaja, Matthew Renshaw and Mitch Swepson as well as last season’s ODI debutants Billy Stanlake and Sam Heazlett.

2017 JLT One Day Cup – my FootDr Queensland Bulls squad: Usman Khawaja (c), Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Jason Floros, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, James Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

The Bulls, with new coach Wade Seccombe having taken charge in the off-season, have included nine members of the team that lost last year's final to New South Wales, including Player of the Tournament Marnus Labuschagne.

Doggett helped Wests win the Queensland Premier Cricket competition last summer and played for the Cricket Australia XI in the 2016 domestic One Day competition and was a member of the 2017 National Performance Squad based at the Bupa National Cricket Centre during the winter.

The 23-year-old, who came into the Queensland High Performance pathway through the Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander XI which competes in the National Indigenous Championships, took six wickets in four matches against the country's best cricketers, impressing with his pace.

Doggett, who traces his indigenous heritage through his mother to the Worimi people, traditional owners of the land around Port Stephens in NSW,is one of two fast bowlers in the family with elder brother Sam one of the leading wicket-takers for Wests last season.

He is the only member of the squad yet to debut for the Bulls, and if selected, would become the first male Indigenous player to represent Queensland since paceman Michael Mainhardt, who played three first-class and three List A games between 1980-81 and 1986-87.

The Bulls won two of their three state practice camp matches this month and will fine-tune their preparations for next week’s tournament opener tomorrow when they play the Auckland Aces in a pre-season tour match at Bill Pippen Oval at Kerrydale, Robina.

Allrounder Ben Cutting returns to training this week after playing three T20I matches last week with the World XI in the return of international cricket to Pakistan.

Renshaw made his List A debut for the Bulls last season, scoring 88 and 38 before suffering a knee injury in the second match of the tournament sidelined him until the end of the series.

Seccombe said he was pleased with Queensland’s pre-season preparation.

“We tried to give everyone a decent opportunity for playing time and in general, it worked pretty well,’’ he said.

“The state camp matches and other games against the National Indigenous squad were very competitive and that has given us a nice springboard for the JLT Cup.

“It’s also been encouraging to see so many of the squad perform solidly for their Premier clubs in the past few weeks and that assists everyone in terms of delivering an outstanding high performance system for the players.

“There were several players who were probably a bit unlucky to miss out but they will keep working hard and be ready to go if called upon."

FULL JLT ONE-DAY CUP SCHEDULE

The JLT Cup begins next Wednesday, September 27 when South Australia plays the Cricket Australia XI at Allan Border Field.

The Bulls will play the Cricket Australia XI next Friday, September 29 in their opening match and then meet South Australia on Sunday, October 1.

Queensland then plays three matches in Sydney against Victoria, WA and NSW before heading to Hobart to play Tasmania.