One last dash for ageing Boland?

Canberra: Scott Boland's slide from the Australian team's pace-bowling hierarchy has been as rapid as his breezy climb. The pacer, a Sheffield Shield veteran, had to wait forever to get a Test call-up with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc manning the Aussie fast bowling department. Boland wasn't even the second-choice replacement as that honour went to Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson.

Boland, perhaps, had resigned to the fact he was destined to end his career as a Shield legend when nature conspired to hand him a Test debut in a series that every Australian cricketer aspires to. In the home Ashes of 2021-22, Boland cut his teeth in international cricket in the Boxing Day Test after Hazlewood was ruled out, Richardson was left out on a cautionary note and Neser pulled up sore following the Adelaide Test.

What followed then is part of Aussie cricket folklore now. Boland claimed 18 wickets in the first three Ashes Tests, sending the Aussie crowd into raptures every time he would take off from his bowling mark.

Boland, a late bloomer in Test cricket, appeared to have had a desired start to his career which, without as much of a sign, went off the track. Since that sizzling start, Boland has played just seven more Tests in almost two years while claiming 17 wickets. With Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood remaining as irreplaceable as ever whenever fit, and Boland picking up a few niggles and injuries, he slipped down the radar.

Pushing 36, Boland, only the second indigenous male cricketer to have played Test cricket for Australia after Jason Gillespie, might have harboured few thoughts of wearing baggy green again but as destiny would have it, Boland, after all, may play a Test again since his last appearance in July 2023 at Headingley. And in an eerie coincidence, the Victorian will be replacing the injured Hazlewood again.

"Yeah, pretty good," said Boland of his preparations as he waited for the match between Indians vs PM's XI two-day match to commence Saturday. "I had a really good prep for the Perth Test. Obviously I haven't played a heap of cricket in the start of this season, but I feel like I've played enough cricket to feel like I'm in a really good spot. My body's feeling really good now. I had a couple of niggles that were a little bit sore but my knee and foot are feeling really good and I'm confident how the ball is coming in," he offered.

Boland agreed that he had given up hopes of playing Test cricket again given how the trio of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood were going.

"I probably expected to play at some stage last summer, there were seven Tests... And obviously with those guys being so resilient -- they don't miss too many and no one must give up their spot at any stage. And they're so dominant, so last time they weren't bowling a heap of overs but we still got to win most of the games. So I probably thought maybe the opportunity had passed but I've worked really hard in the off-season to get my body in a spot where I'm confident that if I get another chance I'll be able to perform for Australia again."

While Boland, who was part of the 13-member squad for the first Test, has a high probability of walking in for an indisposed Hazlewood notwithstanding the call-ups for Sean Abott and Brendan Doggett.

"I'm not really too sure," he said of his chances of playing the Adelaide Test. "I think there's just such a tight turnaround between the Adelaide Test and the Brisbane Test, it's only a couple of days like fly and then a couple of really light training sessions before the game. So it's (the call-ups) probably just a bit of cover, but if something does happen, then I've got those guys close by," he noted.

The experience of playing two pink ball Tests should also hold Boland in good stead.