5 interesting facts you need to know about Scott Boland
Australia have retained the Ashes after winning the Boxing Day Test match at Melbourne Cricket Ground by an innings and 14 runs. The English batters, who have struggled in the Ashes so far, recorded yet another embarrassing record in the Boxing Day Test. The total number of ducks in Tests by England batters this year crossed the fifty mark upon opener Haseeb Hameed's dismissal in the first innings.
Having claimed the series already, the hosts will be raring to go all out and record a 5-0 whitewash by winning the next two games in Sydney and Hobart. Debutant Scott Boland was exceptional with the ball for Australia in the second innings, helping Pat Cummins' men restrict the visitors to 68 runs and claim the series on just the third day of the third Test.
Boland was handed the prestigious Baggy Green upon his Test debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). On that note, let us look at five interesting facts you must know about debutant Scott Boland who has grabbed the headlines with his performance in front of his home crowd:
#1 Recorded the worst figures by an Australian on ODI debut
Boland made his ODI debut alongside left-arm medium-fast pacer Joel Paris against India at the WACA, Perth in January 2016. Unfortunately, the debut wasn't a memorable one for him.
The then 26-year-old was taken to the cleaners by Rohit Sharma (171*) & Virat Kohli (91) as they both looked in sublime touch with the willow thereby helping India record a total of 309-3 in 50 overs. A hapless Boland registered figures of 0/74 in 10 overs and thereby went onto to achieve the unwanted record of the worst bowling figures by an Australian on ODI debut.
#2 Boland represented Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2016 IPL
Boland, who was bought at his base price of ₹ 50 lakhs by the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant during the 2016 IPL auction, played just two matches for the MS Dhoni-led franchise the entire season. On his IPL debut against Mumbai Indians, which the Men in Blue won by eight wickets, Boland went wicketless and recorded figures of 0/23 in three overs.
His second IPL game, which was against the Delhi Capitals where he took 2/31, remains his last appearance in the cash-rich league so far. Boland hasn't earned an IPL contract since his release by the Pune franchise ahead of the 2017 IPL auction.
Now, having proved himself one one of the biggest stages of all, the Ashes, Boland might earn a lucrative IPL contract this time round.
#3 Only the second male Indigenous Test cricketer to play for Australia
The 32-year-old became only the second male indigenous cricketer to play Test cricket for Australia after Jason Gillespie.
Meanwhile, Faith Thomas and Ashleigh Gardner are the only two female indigenous cricketers to have represented Australia at the Test cricket level. Boland, who hails from the Gulidjan Tribe in Western Victoria, was on cloud nine upon making his Test debut for Australia and even stated that he was 'living the dream' in front of his home crowd.
#4 Boland's figures of 6/7 is the best bowling debut at the MCG
His ODI debut might not have been a memorable one for Boland, but Boland's Test debut will be remembered by him, Australian fans worldwide and the MCG crowd for many years to come. After finishing the first innings with just one wicket (1/48) with the dismissal of Mark Wood, Boland produced a sensational spell in the second innings, thereby finishing with figures of 6/7 in just four overs.
His performance earned him not just the prestigious Johnny Mullagh Medal as Player of the Match, but also a name in the history books. Boland posted the best debut bowling figures at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since Test cricket was born there way back in 1877.
#5 Equalled the record of the fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket
During his record-breaking performance of 6/7, Boland equalled yet another record in Test cricket when he caught and bowled Mark Wood—the joint fastest five-wicket haul in the history of Test cricket.
Having picked up his fifth wicket in just 3.1 overs (19 balls), Boland equalled the record held by Ernie Toshack and Stuart Broad who achieved this feat in the same number of deliveries. While Toshack set this record against India in 1947, Broad repeated the feat during the 2015 Ashes at Nottingham where his figures of 8/15 helped England bowl out Australia for just 60 runs in the first innings.