When Scott Boland made his famous Test debut at the MCG three summers ago, Australia thought they were picking a workhorse capable of shouldering a heavy bowling load on a traditionally flat Melbourne Test pitch.
“The first thing you have to think about playing at the MCG is that you will have to bowl a lot of overs more often than not – and he does that very well,” said captain Pat Cummins when explaining Boland’s selection before. the Boxing Day Ashes Test 2021.
After 13 Tests in Boland’s career, it’s clear Australia found themselves with more than they bargained for. By the numbers, there has never been a greater impact bowler on these shores in Test history.
After his latest act of devastation on a touring top order – a 4-30 first innings in which almost half of his 20 overs were maidens – Boland’s strike rate in the Tests played in Australia fell sharply. graded at 33.4, a total better than the next lowest score by a local bowler (James Pattinson’s 40.1).
Boland’s career increasingly mirrors that of Adam Voges, another Sheffield Shield veteran who finally earned a Baggy Green in his 30s and remains something of a statistical outlier.
But where Voges was left behind with a Test batting average second only to that of Sir Donald Bradman, Boland’s extraordinary bowling figures – pushed by most to regress to a less abnormal average over time – become even more impressive .
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s dismissal marked Boland’s 50th Test wicket. Of the bowlers who have reached this milestone, none in the last 60 years has taken their wicket at an average lower than Boland’s current mark of 18.88.
Bumrah (19.36) is one of the few current players in the same stadium by this measure. The Indian spearhead’s late-day knock against Usman Khawaja also saw him lower his strike rate in Australia below 40, placing him as the only bowler within range of Boland’s Spit.
Boland’s Test career coincided neatly with a significant change in the character of Australia’s Test grounds, which became increasingly friendly. A change in the firmness of the Kookaburra ball’s stitching didn’t hurt either.
His reputation as a workaholic remains, as long-time Sheffield Shield opponent Beau Webster noted, at the stumps from day one. But Boland showed himself much more.
“He’s a difficult customer, Scotty. He’s had the wood on us in Tassie for a long time,” Tasmania debutant Webster said.
“If there is something in the wicket, he finds it, and if there is nothing, he finds a passage. He’s been fantastic this whole series when he’s had the chance. He is relentless.
“Its line, its length and its natural angle make it really difficult for right-handers. When you see him coming around the wicket towards the left-handers, it’s impressive.
“It was great watching the third slide today – just the amount of movement he gets, how precise he is, how challenging he is for lefties and righties.
“He’s been superb and he can play long periods and drop back the next day. He’s just one of those guys who can keep going.
“He’s a heartbreaking guy so everyone’s really happy when he does well, which seems to be all the time at the moment.”
India’s opening dig was only the fourth time Boland has been asked to bowl 20 or more overs in a Test innings. Australia’s recent triumph in Melbourne was the first time they had sent over 40 in a Test.
Hitters have a hard time evaluating him early on. He could well have imagined three of India’s top seven being bowled out with their first ball on Friday, continuing a trend in his career that has seen him constantly threaten in his first over of a spell.
Despite his prolific Test series, it is an oddity that his only five-wicket haul remains that opening return of 6-7 against England. The Victorian had every chance to change that when Cummins brought him back with a fragile final trio of seamers to play to.
It was Cummins and Mitchell Starc who cleaned up the tail instead. This only served to enhance Boland’s reputation as a big game hunter; his four victims in the first innings rank first (Yashasvi Jaiswal), second (Reddy), fourth (Rishabh Pant) and fifth (Virat Kohli) among the best Indian run-getters on the tour. He would have also had number 6 on this list (Ravindra Jadeja) had Steve Smith not taken a waist-high catch at second slip during the second session.
Boland’s hold on Kohli has become an asset for the Australians. The right-armer found his edge from the first ball – and would have had his wicket had a line-ball review gone Australia’s way – before allowing just three scoring shots from 25 deliveries.
When Kohli struck another, another push that was a carbon copy of the previous edge, Boland dismissed him for the fourth time in Tests and lowered his overall bowling average to star No. 4 at eight.
After dismissing Pant (for a team-best 40 off 98) and Reddy (golden duck) in consecutive balls, he almost took a hat-trick when Jadeja also nearly edged his first ball.
The major challenge Boland has faced during his rise has been when batters have attacked him, notably during his two Tests on the 2023 Ashes tour, when his two wickets cost him 115.50 each.
It’s a model that India have clearly sought to emulate in this series, at least initially. Whether because of the more favorable bowling conditions in Australia than in the UK, or because he has improved his game in the face of obstacles, the visitors’ efforts to undermine him with naked aggression have not been as effective than those of England.
Pant took the long innings against Boland in Adelaide, taking him to five boundaries in a doomed second innings with an overall strike rate of 135.3 against him. His efforts to repeat that have since failed in Melbourne (caught by a deep third man trying to overtake him for six) and now in Sydney (caught mid-off trying to pull him).
The respect earned by Pant, India’s most dangerous hitter, could serve as a warning to England ahead of next summer’s Ashes series, when the Bazballers are sure to target Boland with similar tactics.
“I think he’s been an incredible bowler, especially the way he bowls line and length,” Pant told Stumps.
“Because he is so used to these conditions. We don’t have the impression that he is playing his first matches, we have the impression that he has been there for a long time. This is the experience he has playing in Australia.
“As an international cricketer you should be able to find ways to (score) every day, even if the bowler is bowling well you should be able to keep finding ways.
“All respect to him, incredible pitcher – but we have to continue to find ways to attack him.”
Pant is not the only one looking for answers against him.
NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series vs India
First try: India won by 295 runs
Second try: Australia won by 10 wickets
Third try: Draw
Fourth try: Australia won by 184 points
Fifth test: 3-7 janvier : SCG, Sydney, 10h30 AEDT
Australian team: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
Indian team: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep , Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves : Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal
