Brendan Doggett: The humble 'chippy' who became a Test cricketer

"If cricket ended for him tomorrow, and he wanted to get back on the tools, I'd give him a job in my business."

That's Ben Gibson from BJ Gibson Constructions in Toowoomba. He's referring to a former star apprentice, who now also happens to be an Australian Test cricketer. Gibson isn't the only construction business owner in southern Queensland who still raves about the carpentry skills of Brendan Doggett.

Nelson Janke goes a step further.

"Brendan simply loved his carpentry, and if in an alternate world, he'd put his mind more to his carpentry instead of cricket, he'd have gone a long way and would be running his own business now," says Janke, who was Doggett's first boss when he took him as an apprentice in 2012.

These reviews from his superiors resonate with how Doggett himself described his journey on the eve of his Test debut in Perth. He spoke about how deep inside, he was still that "chippy" from Toowoomba, and how he could see himself easily slipping back into that role once his cricket career is done.

That is exactly the Brendan that both Gibson and Janke reminisce about—the humble, 'cruisey' man who now just happens to be bowling alongside Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland in an Ashes series.

Janke still has records of when Doggett first joined his business.

"Bren's start date was February 6, 2012, and he finished his apprenticeship and signed off as a carpenter on February 26, 2016," he states.

Gibson met Doggett when he joined Janke's company as a tradie a decade ago. He reminisces about the many construction sites where they worked as a tag team, including one time when Australia's latest fast bowler nearly burnt down a boarding house.

"We would build houses or even do some commercial jobs. One of them was at a boarding house at Toowoomba Grammar School. Brendan and I spent two months hanging 300 doors. It was boring work, but one day Brendan unintentionally made it all very exciting," he says.

Gibson recalls leaving Doggett alone to work while he went to a hardware store. When he returned, the room where they'd prepped all the doors was covered in smoke.

"The trimmer Brendan was using had become very blunt, but he was still an apprentice and stuck with it. Rather than cutting the wood, it had started burning it. But to me it was another sign of how unfazed and casual Brendan is in life, not even taking notice of the smoke all around him."

Cricket was always part of the Brendan Doggett narrative even back then. It was the common ground he bonded over with his workmates. The surrealness of their boy now running in and dismissing English batters on TV isn't lost on either of them.

"Yesterday, he was building houses with me and now he's steaming in and taking Test wickets for Australia at Perth Stadium? To say that I am proud is underselling it. It's an amazing story," says Janke.

"We used to discuss cricket all the time, and the likes of Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc, who were all boyhood heroes for Bren. And to see him rubbing shoulders with them in a Baggy Green is just outstanding," he adds.

Gibson played a high level of grade cricket in Brisbane himself. They even formed a work indoor cricket team. While he'd identified Doggett as highly-talented, Gibbo recalls how nervous his partner used to be when it came to bowling the vital overs in indoor cricket.

"Remarkable when I think that Brendan is playing Test cricket. For someone who was too scared to bowl the 4th and final over of the pair in indoor cricket, because wides and no balls could end up with the batting team requesting for it to re-bowled. Brendan would always be too worried to bowl that over," he says.

What Gibson does remember is the extraordinary work ethic he witnessed from Doggett with regards to his cricket.

"I've never come across anything like it. He'd be on a road bike riding for 100 kms during the weekend getting his glutes and legs stronger while the rest of us are enjoying our time off," he says.

Janke also has vivid memories of how dedicated his young apprentice was to the sport. He remembers a crucial "fork in the road" moment in Doggett's fourth and final apprenticeship year, when cricket started to play a bigger part in his weekly schedule, often leading to him having to miss work.

Janke pulls out Doggett's self-performance review form from 2015. The question was where Doggett saw himself in the next five years.

"His answers read like this. Firstly, to finish his apprenticeship, then to become a tradesman and thirdly to play cricket for Australia. And now he's done them all."

Janke admits having pushed Doggett over the finish line with his apprenticeship even as he started taking multiple days off during the week to go to Brisbane for cricket training or second XI matches. By then, the fast bowler was also being roped in by Queensland's developmental teams and the Brisbane Heat.

"He gifted me one of his first One-Day Cup Bulls' jerseys, and I still have it with me," he says.

Gibson recounts that period as being very transformative for Doggett's early Queensland career.

"He was getting called up routinely to be a net bowler or to play seconds. So you'd see him at work on Monday but the rest of the week he's back in Brisbane playing cricket. That's when Queensland signed him up very young on a developmental contract," he says.

From that point on, Doggett's cricket took off. He was flying to the UAE as part of an Australian Test squad only two years after he'd officially qualified as a carpenter.

He never lost touch with his roots. Both Janke and Gibson put that down to the terrific grounding received at home from his parents, Kevin and Kath Doggett.

"Salt of the earth Aussie family unit. They are great parents, always checking in on him. And it's gone through to his blood too. He's always ensuring everyone around him is doing great," says the former boss.

It's Kath Doggett's generosity that Gibson raves about. He recalls how she would pack extra lamb shanks or lamb rolls for Smoko time for the rest of the boys.

"Bren would just say, mate, don't worry about packing your Smoko today. Mum's sending food for you. And it was always a treat," he says, while revealing how Kath ended up at his doorstep with a gift the day his child was born.

When you bring up his mum's popularity with Doggett himself, he chuckles and talks about how the boys initially used to make fun of him for being a Momma's boy but soon started indulging in the more elaborate food that was packed.

"They'd have peanut butter sandwiches or a ham and cheese, but then I'd come with my lamb shanks and other stuff Mum would pack for us," he says on the sidelines.

Neither of them is surprised by Doggett's insistence that he will one day return to Toowoomba to maybe even put on the nail belt again. That is the Bren they've known all along.

"If you asked me whether I thought Bren would become a Test cricketer one day while he was working as an apprentice, I'd have said no way. But he believed he would and look at him now. He's not changed at all. He's living the dream, but he makes sure we remain an integral part of it," says Janke.

Gibson echoes these views: "Brendan will never forget the little guy and will always be a normal person. Regardless of how many Tests he plays or what levels he reaches next."

They both admit they can see him settling back in Toowoomba. What is for sure is that there'll be a job waiting for him if he does. Maybe even his own business to run.