“Scotty Boland, he’s now my favourite player. He always has been, but he continues to be my favourite.”
Sure the Australia captain, Pat Cummins, might have displayed some confusion about time and continuity. But his sentiment was what mattered, after another decisive bowling burst from the Victorian quick opened up Australia’s path to victory against India in the World Test Championship final.
It is difficult for anyone not to feel some affection for Boland, unless you’re especially invested in a team he is opposing. Partly it’s the “that could be me” factor. You have a player who was ignored by Test selectors until the age of 32. Undemonstrative by nature, free of glamour in appearance or in cricketing style. A state-team bowler who pounded in with a heavy tread to bowl on a length at a moderate pace, toiling in the middle of grand cricket grounds in front of almost nobody.
And of course “that could be me” is a fallacy, because nobody else spent those years like Boland honing their craft, but the idea that a complete unknown could walk into elite sport and excel is a lot of fun. Anyone can get a kick out of imagining themselves in that spot.
Boland was largely unknown when he arrived and excelled, taking six wickets in 19 balls against England in the Boxing Day Test of 2021. Even more compelling was that his six for seven in the second innings came after far more workmanlike figures of one for 48 in the first. He had played a few limited‑overs matches for Australia five years earlier but that had been it.
So the perception of an honest trier having his day in the sun appealed to people. Implicit in the affectionate response was also the perception that it was a fluke, that he would drop back behind Australia’s proper quicks once all were fit, and that if not he would soon be sorted out by players operating at a level above his.
Instead, the wicket burst has become the Boland signature. Undroppable after Melbourne for his second Test in Sydney, he had sequences of two wickets in eight balls, then two in three balls. To finish the Ashes in Hobart he took three in 21 balls. He waited nearly a year for his next match, then took three wickets in an over against West Indies. Against South Africa in Brisbane it was again two in three balls – in both innings.
So it was on form in this final when Boland dismissed Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in three balls, and almost made it three in four when KS Bharat frantically gloved a bumper over first slip. His setup used immaculate control over 12 balls, making Kohli hang back for inward movement, before one fuller drew him into a drive – but not full enough, leaving room to seam away. Then around the wicket to Jadeja, inward movement leaving the left-hander.
It was still only Boland’s eighth Test, but that makes eight of Australia’s last 18, and most he has missed have been in Asia with two or three spinners. Across those matches, the Boland multiple strike has proved not to be a fluke, but a knack.
This is the most astonishing part of the equation. Boland was first picked because he had spent 10 years bowling on a Melbourne Cricket Ground surface that could only be woken with a kiss from a prince. His seasons for Victoria generally required between nine and 14 overs per wicket. Endurance and perseverance without assistance were his offering.
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In this sense, coming up a level has made his job easier. Test pitches have been comparatively lively in recent years, and access to them means that Boland’s weapons are more powerful. The precision with which he delivers the seam, and the force he uses to bang it into the pitch, give him the lavish sideways movement that does such damage. Pace in the surface makes his short ball unexpectedly nasty. And on any surface, he has his old tools of accuracy and consistency.
Boland is now 34, but sports science has moved the window for cricketers later. First it was the idea of batters peaking in their 30s, then spinners, now older fast bowlers are common. Access to dedicated support as an international must have helped his fitness. Boland seems to improve through a match, rather than tire. His first-innings returns are a respectable 11 wickets at 27, but in the second innings he has 22 wickets at 8.18.
Starting the previous Australian summer, Boland was behind the Big Three: Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. By now, although injuries again gave him his chance, perhaps the Big Three are not the Big Three any more. Perhaps he wins a start in his own right. The Scott Boland story stood out for its impossibility, but with each performance it looks more possible.
