That's stumps: Sayers calls time on playing career

The changing of the guard at South Australia continues with seam-bowling spearhead Chadd Sayers announcing today he will retire after next week's final Marsh Sheffield Shield match against Victoria in Melbourne.

Sayers, who played his sole Test against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2018 in the aftermath of the sandpaper scandal, conceded he was not guaranteed a new Redbacks contract for 2021-22 and therefore believes the time is right to draw the curtain on his 10-year first-class career.

The 33-year-old currently sits third among SA's all-time leading Shield wicket-takers with 278 at 25.82 from 70 matches, behind only spinners Ashley Mallett (344 at 23.75 from 77) and Clarrie Grimmett (504 at 25.55 from 78).

However, like his fellow Redbacks bowlers who are yet to claim all 10 opposition wickets in a Shield innings this summer, he has struggled to find his usual potency with 12 scalps at 47.58 from six appearances which makes him SA's leading wicket-taker for the season to date.

"There was no guarantee of my spot on the contract list next year," an emotional Sayers told a media conference in Adelaide today.

"The way the SACA are going we haven't won a lot of games in the past five or six years and we're struggling to bowl sides out at the moment.

"So they mentioned they were going to look elsewhere and whether or not that meant I was going to contract was another thing, but I wanted to go out on my own terms.

"I didn't want to get tapped on the shoulder and told 'you're done'."

Sayers has also been troubled by ongoing knee problems over recent years and was restricted to light fitness work during SA's pre-season campaign after undergoing surgery to his right knee during the winter.

He claimed repeated removal of cartilage and meniscus in the joint has effectively left it as "bone on bone" and admitted it is already causing him constant pain in everyday activities and it was unlikely he could subject himself to another full pre-season campaign.

And he missed the team's most recent Shield trip – to Brisbane where wet weather prevented a ball being bowled – as his wife Stephanie gave birth to the couple's second child, a son Beau.

In the wake of the Redbacks most recent defeat – a nine-wicket Marsh One Day Cup loss to Tasmania which left them winless in both the limited-overs and Shield competitions so far this summer – coach Jason Gillespie noted decisions would be made on playing personnel season's end.

SA have already parted ways with veteran batter and another one-Test representative Callum Ferguson who announced his retirement from first-class ranks prior to the Shield competition's mid-season hiatus.

But with the recent review into SA's continuing poor performance conducted by ex-Test star Michael Hussey recommending the Redbacks actively recruit available talent from interstate, Sayers has opted to join Ferguson in retirement.

Despite standing as a contrast to most modern fast bowlers – a wiry and wiley craftsman who relied on subtle swing at reduced pace – and serving a long apprenticeship at a time when Australia cricket was flush with genuine quicks, Sayers reached the pinnacle of his trade.

"In this industry, wickets is the currency and if you're taking enough wickets then you're always going to be looked at, whatever grade you're playing," he said today.

"My philosophy was a good ball is a good ball, no matter who you're bowling to or what bowler you are.

"Everyone has said 'can you put a couple of kilos on or get a bit more pace out of yourself', but I thought what I was doing was good enough and it's shown in my career.

"I got players out regardless of how fast you bowl."

Sayers earned his Test call-up after a couple of stellar seasons when SA reached consecutive Shield finals from 2015-17 on the strength of his genuine outswing and nagging accuracy as part of a dominant pace attack also featuring Joe Mennie and Daniel Worrall.

He was named Sheffield Shield Player of the Year in 2016-17 when he claimed 62 wickets at 19 from 11 matches, and in 2014 he became the first SA representative in almost 40 years to claim a Shield hat-trick when he completed the feat against Queensland at Adelaide Oval.

Gillespie, who took over the coaching role from Jamie Siddons this season after the Redbacks had finished bottom of the Shield ladder for three summers in a row, paid tribute to the stalwart swing bowler whose maiden Test wicket was Proteas great AB de Villiers.

"I think he (de Villiers) was world's best batsman at the time," Sayers noted with a smile before joining his SA teammates in a final training session ahead of his farewell appearance.

SA's last Shield game of the summer against Victoria begins at CitiPower Centre in Melbourne on Saturday, with Sayers expected to replace left-arm seamer Nick Winter in the 12-man squad.

Likely SA squad: Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (wk), Wes Agar, David Grant, Henry Hunt, Sam Kerber, Jake Lehmann, Joe Medew-Ewen, Harry Nielsen, Liam Scott, Jake Weatherald, Chadd Sayers, Daniel Worrall