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\u201cYeah …\u201d a wry grin passes across Scott Boland\u2019s face as he\u2019s reminded of the moment he thought he\u2019d broken England\u2019s back in the Leeds Ashes Test.<\/p>\n
In the first hour on day two, he had a very adjacent lbw appeal against captain Ben Stokes turned down by umpire Kumar Dharmasena. Stokes had just 10 and England were 5-97. As Boland and his teammates huddled and awaited the DRS verdict, there was confidence from Alex Carey.<\/p>\n
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Scott Boland thinks he\u2019s got Ben Stokes lbw at Leeds.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Kez\u2019 thought it was really good and he\u2019s a pretty good judge \u2013 if he thinks it\u2019s close it is generally really close,\u201d Boland says. \u201cI thought it was going to be really close on where it hit him. I knew it was hitting the stumps, but he sort of came at me.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just praying it went the other way and it didn\u2019t. Looking back on it, he made 80-odd and put on some good runs with the lower order. There\u2019s so many things in the series that could\u2019ve changed, so yeah … umpire\u2019s call…\u201d Boland trails off, much as Australia did as the series finished 2-2.<\/p>\n Eighteen months earlier, a similarly tight lbw call had gone Boland\u2019s way against Jonny Bairstow to start Boland\u2019s run of 4-0 in 11 balls on an unforgettable final morning at the MCG. It had ended in Boland\u2019s acceptance of the Johnny Mullagh Medal, not only as player of the match, but also as a proud Gulidjan man.<\/p>\n On that occasion, the Bairstow ball had been umpire\u2019s call for both impact on the pad and projection to hit the stumps \u2013 Stokes\u2019 reprieve had been knocking out middle stump. The big difference was where Bairstow had been \u2013 right back in his crease \u2013 and how far forward Stokes had got as he advanced towards Boland.<\/p>\n That contrast is a key to how differently Boland fared in this year\u2019s Ashes, the first time in Test matches where he had been significantly challenged: two wickets at 115.5 and an economy rate of 4.91 in his two matches as England\u2019s batters went out to meet him.<\/p>\n Jonny Bairstow, back in his crease, was lbw to Scott Boland in 2021, but Ben Stokes escaped by coming forward this year.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Twitter<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe looked at the data of where they were hitting the ball against me, and it was only really [Zak] Crawley who was way out in front a lot of the time, and Joe Root, who kept walking at me in the first Test,\u201d Boland says. \u201cSo I did try to bowl a few more bouncers to Root to keep him at home, and I think after doing that he did stay back a bit more and Pat [Cummins] got him both times in that third Test.<\/p>\n \u201cBowling more bouncers is one of the things I can do to keep them in the crease, and I think generally I\u2019m pretty good at running the ball back [towards the stumps], so they knew how I wanted to bowl in pretty flat conditions and they tried to combat that. Not something I\u2019d experienced at such a high rate before.\u201d<\/p>\n Something else Boland felt, especially at Edgbaston, was a sensation he had not felt for quite a few years. Namely the frustration of not being able to put the ball exactly where he wanted to. Given that sheer consistency had been part of what put him in the Test team, it was as uncomfortable as anything yelled from the Hollies Stand.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like I had a pretty good prep, bowled really well in the Test Championship, had a bit of an off game in the first Test, where I just didn\u2019t feel I could get the ball where I wanted it to go. And I hadn\u2019t really felt like that in two or three years.\u201d<\/p>\n Quite a contrast to the World Test Championship final against India, where Boland had the ball on the same string he had seemingly carried through most of the previous year or more. His defeat of Virat Kohli on the final day had effectively sealed the title for Australia, but Boland can now see it was the way England played him that may become more commonplace.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing about sitting down after a series is that you can review it and not be too emotional about it,\u201d Boland says. \u201cI\u2019ve sat down and had some good chats with \u2018Ronnie\u2019 [coach Andrew McDonald] about how we can try to keep the batter more at home, keep them where I want them to be, instead of them coming at me all the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI think even in Shield cricket, individual players might see the way that England have played and want to play that sort of style. For us we\u2019ve got Matt Short who\u2019s been on fire the last 12 months and plays a pretty up-tempo brand of game. He hits decent balls for four.<\/p>\n Scott Boland signs an autograph at Junction Oval during Victoria\u2019s opening game.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019d be nice to test my skills against the best batters in the world \u2013 that\u2019s the marker for us, when we\u2019re playing against those players on flattish wickets.\u201d<\/p>\n As the Australian white-ball team limbers up for the World Cup in India, to close out a year of seemingly never-ending tours, Boland is at home with Victoria, setting off on a summer where he remains the fourth ranked seam bowler in the eyes of the selectors.<\/p>\n An immaculate spell of 2-32 against Tasmania in Victoria\u2019s opening limited overs game provided a reminder that Boland\u2019s engine is revving nicely for the home season. He says that Spring training feels different, less of a chore, than a year ago.<\/p>\n He is conscious, too, of the cricket landscape changing through the increasing proliferation of big money Twenty20 leagues. For now, though, Boland remains confident in the ambitions of all players \u2013 not just his 30-something generation \u2013 to keep Tests at the forefront of their minds and their hearts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spoke the other day in a meeting about how everyone that\u2019s in our squad still wants to play Test cricket,\u201d Boland says. \u201cThat hasn\u2019t changed from when I was 20 years old. Coming off after a Test match or Shield game with a win, after you\u2019ve worked your arse off for four or five days, is still the most satisfying feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n As for his own future, Boland feels a young 34, although he stops short of aiming to make the next Ashes tour in four years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n \u201cI still think I\u2019ve got some improvement in me,\u201d he says. \u201cFour years is a long time when I\u2019m 34, but if I can keep putting in good performances, I want to keep playing Test cricket and Shield cricket for as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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