Brendan Doggett is slightly torn about his upcoming stint with Durham in the County Championship.
On the one hand, the 30-year-old is excited about a great opportunity to continue playing after a season in which he got himself back into Australia's Test squad following an outstanding performance for Australia A, and has helped South Australia reach the Sheffield Shield final.
On the other hand, he misses out on doing something that he has loved over the past few Australian winters, something he believes has helped his cricket career immensely, and that is compete in the Port Macquarie and Cairns Half Ironman triathlon events.
"It's bit of a left-field one to be honest," Doggett told ESPNcricinfo. "I did two last off-season, one the off-season before.
"But I just think running and riding and swimming, most of it's low impact besides the running.
"I start seasons fit and fresh. I feel like that's been a little bit of success to my injury woes. It's just helped me stay fit and strong and healthy, and then, the mental side of it too is sort of taking me away from cricket, and allowed me to dive into something else that's physically demanding in a way, but it's allowed me to have a little hobby outside of the game."
Peter Siddle, who has just retired aged 40 after an extraordinary 20-year first-class career that included 67 Tests, got heavily into road cycling in the latter part of his career to help maintain an incredible fitness base whilst not overloading his body.
But Half Ironman's are another step up altogether. The triathlon includes a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run.
While most professional fast bowlers opt to lower their golf handicaps during their time off, Doggett has been spending his off-season weeks riding 250-300kms, running 30-35kms and swimming 6-10kms in preparation.
There were no concerns in terms of the impact that type of training would have on his cricket as South Australia's sports science staff saw nothing but upside. Swimming was great for his shoulder mobility and his back and core strength. The only issue they saw was road running and hence his weekly running loads were capped compared to what an elite triathlete might do. He does not do any triathlon training during the season.
He got into the sport via his brother Samuel, who also competes. But Doggett hasn't just been making up the numbers in the races either.
Doggett competed in two last winter prior to his domestic pre-season starting with South Australia. In May 2024, he completed the Port Macquarie course in 4 hours, 30 minutes and three seconds (4:30:03) to finish 47th out of 1104 competitors and 10th of 152 in his age group. Less than six weeks later, he completed the Cairns race in 4:17:23 to finish 37th overall. He finished less than 17 minutes behind race winner Sam Musgrove, who went on to finish top five in his age group at the World Championship in Hawaii later in the year.
"I felt like I was more nervous at the start line of a Half Ironman than taking the new ball for a Big Bash game or a Shield final," Doggett said.
The benefits have been enormous on his game. His last two Australian summers have been his best in first-class cricket. He's taken 65 wickets at 22.55 across two seasons, including a career-best 6 for 15 for Australia A against India A in Mackay.
He also has bowled 236.4 overs this summer in eight games, the most overs and appearances he has ever made in an Australian first-class season since his debut summer of 2017-18.
"I don't know whether that's part of it, or if it's just getting older, the body's maturing and learning how to bowl long spells," Doggett said.
All that propelled him back into the Test squad as cover for the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests against India after Josh Hazlewood suffered a side strain. It was the first time Doggett had been in a Test squad since he was a shock inclusion on the 2018 tour of the UAE for a two-Test series against Pakistan.
"It was nice to be in and around that environment again after quite a long break," Doggett said. "But I guess for me and my journey in cricket, I was fairly injury-ridden there for probably five or six years and just never felt like I was ever going to get to that place again.
"Last year and this year have been game-changers for me with my body. I've held out throughout the seasons. My perspective on the game has changed a lot. I'm here to enjoy it and make sure that I'm always having fun. That comes with being a new dad, I've got a two-year-old now so the game looks very different.
"I think that's been a big change, just the attitude and not too much pressure on. It's helped me succeed, I guess, and play with a bit more freedom and bowl how I want to bowl and walk off the field feeling satisfied and happy."
Australia's selectors are big fans of Doggett's skill-set. He can sustain higher speeds than most in Australian domestic cricket throughout long spells and is a weapon on flatter surfaces with his ability to keep the stumps in play. He could be considered for an Australia A tour of India that is likely to take place in either August or September this year.
He will get another opportunity to impress for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield final at Karen Rolton Oval this week. He has already won two Shield titles with Queensland and performed well in both his previous finals, taking bags of 5 for 101 from 31 overs against Tasmania in the 2017-18 final and 3 for 37 against New South Wales in the 2020-21 decider.
"I was trying to sit back and reflect on how I felt leading into both my previous Shield finals, I was probably a bit naive to be honest," Doggett said. "I was the younger squad member, so I sort of had people to lean on. But it's a bit of a different situation for me now, a bit more of a senior figure in our squad, and especially in our bowling attack."
Thereafter he is set to play four games at Durham, linking up with two former Australian players in coach Ryan Campbell and director of cricket Marcus North.
"My body is feeling good so it's a good stage of my career to go over there and play some more cricket," Doggett said.