Sayers seizing an unexpected opportunity

Having called it a day on a successful playing career for South Australia, Chadd Sayers was looking forward to some family time. But he still wasn’t finished with cricket – not when he was presented with an opportunity to try his hand at coaching at an international level.

Sayers will be part of Papua New Guinea’s coaching staff when the ‘Barramundis’ begin their ICC T20 World Cup campaign tonight in the UAE against Oman.

“Honestly I was just wanted to spend time with my family and take it from there, but this coaching role with PNG came up and was too good to refuse,” says Sayers, who is the team’s Assistant Coach, looking after the Barramundis’ bowlers.

“I always wanted to stay in cricket in some capacity, so to do so in on the international scene is a great start. To kill some time before heading away with the team, I did some work with a mate in the building industry, which I enjoyed immensely.”

Sayers has been away with the team at a warm-up tournament featuring the USA, Nepal, Oman and Scotland and has liked what he’s seen from the island nation.

“The thing which has impressed me the most about the team, is the willingness to learn. Both about the game and their skill set.

“They play the game for the love and their passion is outstanding. We haven't had a great start to the tour over here in Oman, but they keep rocking up, training hard and want to learn and improve every day.

Sayers believes that PNG can progress through to the main group of the World Cup.

“These players are very skilful with both bat and ball and are suited to the game of T20 cricket. It's always going to be hard to beat Bangladesh, but I think we match up well against Scotland and Oman. If we can play our best against these opposition sides, we can progress and hopefully shake a few other teams in the main group.”

Sayers says he has really taken to the role, built great rapport with the players and hopes to remain in the role once the World Cup is over.

“I’m having a great time in the role thus far, I’ve also loved building relationships, learning about the players’ lives and culture back in PNG. It’s a real eye opener and shows the sacrifices they make to play this great game.”

When he does return home to Adelaide Sayers won’t be lost to the game, however. He will be fronting up for Woodville in Premier Cricket as well as being an Assistant Coach there too whilst assessing what’s next to come.

“Hopefully I can teach the young kids a thing or two about the game through playing and coaching. It's important that players like myself give back to the premier clubs and make the competition stronger and make players ready for the next level,

“Currently I'm not doing any study. One thing I regret throughout my playing career was not using the ACA resources more and potentially doing a trade whilst was playing.”