"To have my first coaching gig at a T20 World Cup and realising the backgrounds of everyone else who's going to be there is just special." ©Getty
Chadd Sayers never thought he'd be part of a cricket World Cup. He'd always dreamt about it. He'd grown up hoping to experience the high of rubbing shoulders with the best players in the sport, all in one place. But the former South Australian new-ball supremo's limited performances in the shorter formats had come in the way.
So, when Sayers was approached by the Papua New Guinea (PNG) national team to be their assistant coach, he jumped at the proposal. And he makes no bones about the one significant aspect of the job offer that got him most excited.
"To have my first coaching gig at a T20 World Cup and realising the backgrounds of everyone else who's going to be there is just special. It came completely out of the blue," the 33-year-old tells Cricbuzz from his home in Adelaide's western suburbs.
Not surprisingly, it didn't take too much convincing on Greg Campbell's part when he called up the recently-retired pacer to discuss the opportunity. Campbell, a former Australian Test fast bowler much like Sayers, has been the director of cricket and CEO of Cricket PNG for nearly a decade now.
"Coming out of cricket, I always wanted to stay involved and give back to the game. I always enjoyed the coaching aspect of it, and I was delighted to be asked by Greg to get involved with an international side to start my coaching journey, and that too at a World Cup," says Sayers.
It had already been an unprecedented winter for the lion-hearted right-armer, who